The newly discoveredVenetoraptor gassenaeoffers scientists new insight into the lagerpetids, a group of reptiles that gave way to ancient pterosaurs.
Caio FantiniAn artist ’s impression ofVenetoraptor gassenae .
Paleontologists in southern Brazil have unearth the fossilized stiff of an ancient reptilian with long , scimitar - like claw and a beak .
The reptilian creature , namedVenetoraptor gassenaeby researchers , live around 230 million year ago during the Triassic full stop . Paleontologist Rodrigo Müller toldLive Sciencethat the reptile likely used its claws , which “ look a turn like those of Edward Scissorhands , ” to pick up its prey or climb tree diagram .
Caio FantiniAn artist’s impression ofVenetoraptor gassenae.
Müller also draw care to the reptilian ’s farseeing , sharp nozzle , saying it belike used this it to devour insect , fruit , and low animate being like lizards .
The remains were discovered in a Sir Tim Rice farm in Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil , where Müller order he straightaway noticed that this fossil belonged to a type of animal know as a lagerpetid — ancient creatures that were on a different branch of life than dinosaurs , and likely later evolve into pterosaurs , the earliest vertebrates to be able to fly .
It was the shape of the reptile ’s femur that clued Müller into what they had discovered , but further analysis at a lab divulge even more surprising and insightful information .
Janaína Brand DillmanV. gassenaefossils recovered from a rice farm in southern Brazil.
“ The skull and helping hand were revealed after the laboratory provision of the specimen , ” Müller toldGizmodo . “ At this point , this specimen became the most enlightening lagerpetid ever discover . ”
Lagerpetids ramble the Earth more than 200 million years ago , and though they share several characteristics with dinosaurs , they also have a few notable difference , like the pterosaur that came after them .
The clearest differences can be found in their rosehip and weapon bones , with dinosaur have a hole in their rosehip bone while pterosaur and lagerpetids did not .
Müller noted that the newly discovered fossil was peculiarly life-sustaining for deepening our understanding of these ancient reptiles , as cranial remains are in the main “ scarce ” for lagerpetids . Uncovering the cranial remains , Müller tell , offers research worker “ the first reliable looking into the nerve of these enigmatic reptiles . ”
“ The unusual underframe ofVenetoraptor gassenaereveals a whole raw morphotype of pterosaur predecessor , ” he say .
Janaína Brand DillmanV. gassenaefossils recover from a rice farm in southern Brazil .
The shape and size ofV. gassenae‘s claw affirm at least one hunch researchers had about lagerpetids — that at least some bloodline lost quadrupedalism , preferring instead to move about on two legs .
And althoughV. gassenae‘s beak is like to that of a bird of prey , it really forego raptor beaks by about 80 million years .
“ The bionomic role and evolutionary advantage of such a hooter inVenetoraptorare uncertain , ” the squad wrote in the survey issue inNature . The presence of the nozzle also “ expands the morphological spectrum of beaks within Pterosauromorpha . ”
There is still much that investigator do n’t have sex about lagerpetids , but as always , more specimens give way more and more info about these ancient creatures ’ secrets .
“ The next steps admit non - invasive technique such as computational tomography for reconstruct the brain endocast and hidden structure , ” Müller said .
Previously , it was believe that lagerpetids were not as anatomically diverse as pterosaurs or dinosaurs , but Müller noted that by analyzing the shape and sizing of dodo from 18 dinosaur and 10 flying reptile metal money , along with their precursors , the team is exchange that laying claim .
In fact , the more research worker learn about lagerpetids , the more they are go to consider they may have been as various as the pterosaurs that come after them — and perhaps even more diverse than the dinosaurs that cast the Earth during the Triassic period .
After reading about the discovery of this ancient reptile , learn about the freshly light upon ancient heavyweight that may have been theheaviest animal of all clip . Or , read about theancient giant - head amphibiandiscovered by German scientist last year .
