New dinosaur dug up in Brazil is missing link in evolution

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

A 230 million-year-old dinosaur unearthed in Brazil has been hailed as a 'missing link' in the evolution of the world's biggest land animals.

It is 'the great grandfather' of legendary Diplodocus and Brontosaurus, say scientists.

The long-necked creature was one of the first sauropodomorphs - a group that includes the iconic giants.

It was also bipedal - just like T Rex, but its famous, plant-eating descendants walked on four legs.

Lead author Dr. Rodrigo Muller, of The Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil, said: "It's the oldest known dinosaur with an elongated neck - making it the 'great-grandfather' of sauropods!

"They grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal - and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth.

"This early sauropodomorph was much smaller - shedding fresh light on their evolution. It is a missing link in the family tree."

At the time - apart from achieving a more herbivorous diet - sauropodomorphs were ballooning in size.

Dr. Muller said: "Their typical long neck was also established - becoming proportionally twice as long as those of similar animals."

At the start of their rise 233 million years ago they were less than 5ft long - and about 14 pounds. Some later reached more than 130 feet - and 100 tons.

Dr. Muller explained: "Dinosaurs excavated from sites dating to 225 million years ago were larger - 13ft long and more than 16 stone.

"This increase in body size occurred during an 8 million year interval and demanded a series of skeletal adaptations to support a heavier body."

The moment and order in which these changes occurred are mostly unknown. The new species helps fill the gap.

Its remains were excavated from a prehistoric animal graveyard in Southern Brazil.

The fossilized bones belonged to a dinosaur that would have measured about seven feet in length.

Dr. Muller said: "This find provides new data on what was happening to the skeletons of dinosaurs as they are becoming larger.

The animal described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology has not yet been named.

Dr. Muller said: "It is one of the oldest ancestors of diplodocus and brontosaurus."

Its neck would have helped it access more food from ferns and gymnosperms - flowerless plants that produce cones and seeds.

Dr. Muller said: "The animal had predators including wolf-sized forerunners to mammals and primitive crocodiles called pseudosuchians."

It also shared the landscape with other large vertebrates such as tusked reptiles known as dicynodonts.

The dinosaur lived during the Upper Triassic when South America was still part of the supercontinent Pangaea.

Argentinosaurus is believed to have been the biggest sauropod of them all. It was nearly the size of a blue whale.

Experts estimate it would have needed to eat an amazing 100,000 calories in a single day - 40 times as much as an average human.