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Trilobites
A fossil found in Argentina over 200 million years ago suggests that the largest dinosaur existed earlier than paleontologists believed.
No creature has ever crossed the planet as creatures that scientists call them sauropodomorphs.
These long-necked plant eaters were the largest dinosaurs and included the powerful 70-ton titanosaurs, as well as the Brachiosaurus. Paleontologists have long wondered how these 100-foot-long behemoths have become so big.
Now a group of researchers has discovered a new sauropodomorp He differed from later species in his group, with seasonal growth spurts leading to his giant proportions, rather than continuous and progressive growth. The discovery, published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, provides insight into how some dinosaurs have become the greatest.
"This new dinosaur is changing our understanding of how dinosaurs have become giants," said Cecilia Apaldetti, Museo de Ciencias Naturales, National University of San Juan Argentina and lead author of the study
In 2015, Dr. Apaldetti and his colleagues discovered the new species by searching for fossils from the Triassic period in northwestern Argentina. They called it Ingentia prima, meaning "the first giant".
"We did not expect a big dinosaur in the Triassic rocks because we know that at that time the dinosaurs were usually small, no more than 3 tons" Dr. Apaldetti says
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Science Times Bulletin But the prehistoric beast they found weighed between 7 and 10 tons – more than an elephant of the year. Africa – and measured about 33 feet long. It has lived from 201 million to 237 million years ago, about 47 million years before its colossal cousins, brachiosaurus and Diplodocus, and 30 million years before the titanosaurs.
"Until now it was believed that the first giants inhabited the Earth was from the Jurassic." Dr. Apaldetti said. This sauropod was known as Vulcanodon and it walked on Earth about 180 million years ago and measured about 20 to 35 feet long.
Back in the laboratory, they spent months cleaning the fossil and comparing it with other dinosaur species. Dr. Apaldetti and his colleagues studied the fossils of Ingentia prima as well as the remains of a known and closely related species called Lessemsaurus sauropoides. Together, the two species belong to a group known as "lessemsaurids".
In studying the anatomy of dinosaurs, she discovered that, like the Jurassic giants, Ingentia prima had an avian-type respiratory system, which means her neck. But it also found differences
"Just as growing seasons can be observed in a tree, bone sections in SSH show cyclical and seasonal growth," said Dr. Apaldetti. "But the style of bone deposition during these growing periods is different from the other sauropods or eusauropods we knew up to here."
Lessemsauridae developed through flashes that occurred seasonally, she says, while their later counterparts grew. "Giant sauropods such as Jurassic or Cretaceous titanosaurs have acquired large bodies in a slow and complex manner," said Dr. Apaldetti. This included the development of elongated necks and anterior limbs, smaller skulls, and thick, tubal-like limbs.
In contrast, Ingentia prima did not have a very elongated neck and her legs were more flexible and bent rather than straight and resembling pillars. These early giants showed that there was more than one way to climb the top of the dinosaur world.
Nicholas St. Fleur is a science journalist who writes on archeology, paleontology, space and other topics. He joined the Times in 2015. Prior to that, he was associate editor at The Atlantic. @ scifleur • Facebook
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