240-million-year-old reptile fossil reveals a lost chapter before dinosaurs and crocodiles
A 240-million-year-old fossil of a new reptile species, Silescelida acristata, discovered in Brazil, offers new insights into the evolutionary history of archosauriformes, the group that gave rise to archosaurs (crocodiles and dinosaurs). This discovery helps fill a significant gap in understanding terrestrial ecosystems shortly after the Permian-Triassic mass extinction event.
Why it matters
This fossil provides crucial evidence for the early diversification of reptiles and the evolutionary lineage leading to dinosaurs and crocodiles, enhancing our understanding of life's recovery and adaptation following Earth's greatest mass extinction.
Long before dinosaurs ruled the continents and modern crocodiles first appeared, their ancestors were already going through a decisive phase in their evolutionary history. It was in this ancient world, shortly after the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history that a new species of fossil reptile discovered in the interior of Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state .
Named Silescelida acristata , the species lived about 240 million years ago, during the Middle Triassic Period . The fossil was found in Dona Francisca , in central Rio Grande do Sul, in rocks that are part of the UNESCO Quarta Col nia Geopark .
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in