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Amphibian older than dinosaurs, found in RS
In rocks on a farm in the rural area of the municipality of Rosário do Sul, on the western border of the state, a Fossil skull of a giant amphibian speciesidentified as “older than dinosaurs,” according to an analysis by researchers from the Paleobiology Laboratory of the São Gabriel Campus of the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa), who participated in the discovery.
According to scientists, the paleontological find highlights a possible connection between the fauna of Pampa Gaucho Yes / Yes Russiawhich could test what is known about the ecosystem at the time of Pangea (when the continents formed a single block). Understand below.
1 of 4 Digital reconstruction of the giant amphibian Kwatisuchus rosai in its habitat – Photo: Disclosure / Márcio Castro Digital reconstruction of the giant amphibian Kwatisuchus rosai in its habitat – Photo: Disclosure / Márcio Castro
The group located the bone in August 2022. Only after a recent analysis, in which the fossil was cleaned and decoupled from the rock, documented, data collected and recorded, were the researchers able to come to the conclusion that the Animal lived on Earth about 250 million years agobefore the presence of dinosaurs.
The new species was named at the Unipampa facilities Kwatisuchus rosai – Somehow based on the Tupi term for “long snout” and Rose bush in honor of paleontologist Átila Stock Da-Rosa from the Federal University of Santa Maria, a pioneer in the field.
The amphibian is one of the early Triassic period. At this time, the ecosystem was recovering from a massive extinction event.
2 of 4 The place where the fossil was found is in the pampas of RS, in Rosário do Sul – Photo: Divulgação / Alice Dias The place where the fossil was found is in the pampas of RS, in Rosário do Sul – Photo: Divulgação / Alice Dias
The discovery is part of a project by the Unipampa Paleobiology Laboratory. To promote the science, the research team will host an exhibition of 3D printed replicas of animals and fossils. The event is scheduled for the second half of this year and will take place in São Gabriel.
The amphibian found belongs to the group of dominant animals in the Triassic ecosystem and reached it gigantic sizeshave similar appearance and lifestyle to crocodiles.
3 of 4 Skull of the giant amphibian Kwatisuchus rosai — Photo: Divulgação / Felipe Pinheiro Skull of the giant amphibian Kwatisuchus rosai — Photo: Divulgação / Felipe Pinheiro
“Back then there were, for example, four-legged land dwellers, amphibians and fish. At the end of the Triassic there were some species of dinosaurs, but not like in the Jurassic, the period after the Triassic,” explains Arielli Machado, researcher on the project and doctor of ecology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Studies of evolutionary history indicate that the group to which the Kwatisuchus rosai have heard The emergence of modern amphibians – like frogs, salamanders and blind snakes.
“It is a completely new species of the temnospondyl amphibian group. He has a long body. “It spent most of its time in water and had a tadpole stage, like today’s amphibians,” says Unipampa professor and doctor of paleontology Felipe Pinheiro.
What surprised the researchers, however, was the discovery in South America, as until then it was an animal that “we thought only existed in Russia,” says Pinheiro.
According to the professor, the fossil is one piece of a much larger puzzle “that we are putting together about what the Lower Triassic faunas looked like” after the Permian extinction, “the most catastrophic event in history.” of the planet”.
In case of Kwatisuchuswhat points to the origin before the first dinosaurs are mainly rocks.
The rocks in which the skull was found “testify to a completely inhospitable and dry period in which occasional floods occurred,” says Pinheiro. The dating of the fossil is done through “comparisons with other regions” and through “chemical methods” – “such as the measurement of radioactive elements”.
Relations between Pampa do RS and Russia
The fossil found in Rosário do Sul in the Pampas of RS shows a fascinating connection between the fauna of the south and Russia.
“It’s very strange that our animals are more like Russian animals than South African ones – which were much closer,” emphasizes Felipe Pinheiro.
According to the researcher, this connection “could show that our hypotheses about the geography of the supercontinent Pangea are incorrect.” This possibility is being investigated using computer models.
4 of 4 Unipampa researchers find the skull of an animal older than a dinosaur – Photo: Divulgação / Alice Dias Unipampa researchers find the skull of an animal older than a dinosaur – Photo: Divulgação / Alice Dias
The discovery, explains Felipe Pinheiro, increases the diversity of fossil organisms in the south of the country and helps to understand the most mysterious time intervals in Earth’s history.
“The evidence for connections between Brazilian and Russian fauna shows that we still have a lot to learn about the geography and distribution of organisms in this distant past,” he reflects.
The study, carried out by the laboratory of the Federal University of Pampa (Unipampa), is supported by research funding from Lemann-Brazil granted to the professor of the North American University of Harvard, Stephanie Pierce, in collaboration with the Brazilian scientist and professor at Unipampa, Felipe Pinheiro and Tiago Simões, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University.
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