It lived in the desert, was carnivorous and was between 60 and 90 cm tall. A new species of dinosaur has been discovered in Brazil, after a group of scientists studied footprints found in the city of Araraquara, in the state of São Paulo. After years of analysis, they were able to confirm that the footprints did not match any other recorded dinosaur footprints.
The new species was named Farlowichnus rapidus. It translates as “Rapid Farlow footprint” and refers to how fast this type of dinosaur found in Brazil is supposed to be. “From the great distance between the footprints found, it can be concluded that it was a very fast reptile that ran over ancient dunes,” said the Geological Service of that country in a statement. release.
The footprints were originally found in 1980 by Giuseppe Leonardi, an Italian priest and paleontologist. The fossilized material was in rocks from an ancient dune desert in a region called the Botucatu Formation, which covers part of southern Brazil and northern Uruguay. In 1984 they were donated to the Museum of Earth Sciences in Brazil for study.
The dinosaur lived in the desert of what is now Brazil during the early Cretaceous period. Between 100 and 145 million years ago. The Botucatu Formation is one of the richest areas in fossil remains of biological activity in South America. Especially tetrapod ichnofossils: traces of four-legged animals, such as dinosaurs, crocodiles or mammals.
The traces of Farlowichnus rapidusHowever, “they are very different from all other known theropod tracks,” highlighted the study report, which was published in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research.
Brazil, a region of several discoveries of new dinosaurs
Wind environments, such as dunes, are thought to be poor places for animal tracks to be preserved. Wind can quickly erode footprints, making them difficult to find or even destroying them completely. But as this new dinosaur in Brazil demonstrates, the Botucatu Formation is an exception to this rule.
In this region, ichnofossils are found in sedimentary rocks formed by the accumulation of sand in dunes. These rocks have a high concentration of organic matter that helps preserve the footprints. The dunes of the Botucatu Formation were also humid, which helped with their maintenance. The moisture helped the sediments become compacted and more resistant to erosion.
The ancient Botucatu desert was inhabited by many animals, usually quite small, the researchers explain. Tetrapod footprints indicate the presence of a bipedal dinosaur fauna —which walked on two legs— of small size in that region of what is now Brazil. Possibly, they lived around ponds or wadi areas, a desert or semi-desert area of dry or nearly dry valleys that only filled with water during occasional rains.
The surprising 50 footprints
The region has already given several surprises to paleontologists. Last year, also in São Paulo, Brazil, a team of geologists found a group of dinosaur footprints which are believed to date back to between 140 and 174 million years, from the Jurassic period. They would be the footprints oldest found in this country.
Dinosaur tracks from this period are most common in the US and other parts of the world, but are not typically found in South America. They were discovered near 50 footprints, in the region between Río Claro and Piracicaba. The dimensions of the tracks show large animals, four to six meters long and weighing tons. That is to say: herds of adult and baby dinosaurs roamed this region.