Reptile fossil found in Brazil helps shed light on the common origins of dinosaurs and crocodiles

edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Andrew Zinin

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Add as preferred source About the size of a small alligator, the Silescelida acristata lived 240 million years ago and holds clues to the origin of animal groups that would transform terrestrial ecosystems forever. Credit: Matheus Fernandes, from Scientific Reports (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-53740-9 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 was discovered in Brazil's inland Rio Grande do Sul state .