New 240-Million-Year-Old Tanzanian Fossil Pushes Earliest Dinosaur Rocks Younger
Updated
Updated · Sci.News · Sep 15
New 240-Million-Year-Old Tanzanian Fossil Pushes Earliest Dinosaur Rocks Younger
3 articles · Updated · Sci.News · Sep 15
Summary
Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda, identified from two Tanzanian fossils collected in 1963 and 2012, is the first confirmed record of the genus outside South America.
CT scans, 3D imaging and phylogenetic analysis tied the animal to securely dated Dinodontosaurus-bearing rocks in Brazil and Argentina, giving the Tanzanian layer a firmer age match.
That correlation suggests the Manda Beds' mid-to-upper Lifua Member is late Ladinian to Carnian—about 242 million to 227 million years old—rather than the older Anisian age of 247 million to 242 million years.
A younger date would shift fossils from the same rocks, including the possible earliest dinosaur Nyasasaurus parringtoni, later in time and could reshape work on early dinosaur origins.