Dinosaurs Not The First & Only To Have Walked The Earth Based On Latest Fossils Unearthed, Says Report
Dinosaurs were not the first and the only animals to have walked the earth. In the latest fossils unearthed by scientists in Sao Sao Joao de Polesine in Brazil, they discovered that dinosaurs lived along with the lagerpetids, animals that are supposedly dinosaur's predecessors.
The recent findings, which can also be read in Current Biology journal, may give clues to understanding "the differences that emerged as dinosaurs evolved and spread." Based on the fossils that also include partial sauropodomorp and partial lagerpetid (two fossils belonging to dinosaurs and two fossils belonging to lagerpetids), these two groups of animals share co-existence on the planet for approximately 30 million years, discarding previous theory that the existence of dinosaurs drove all other animals into extinction.
"We previously thought that once dinosaurs appeared, they sort of out-competed an drove the other animals like lagerpetids to extinction," said Mr. Max Cardos Langer, one of the authors of the journal and one of University of Sao Paulo's paleontologist, adding that with these discovery, they believe that these two different species lived side by side.
It is also a first time for scientists to find fossils for dinosaur and non-dinosaur dinosauromorph "together in the same excavation," indicating that both the dinosaurs and non-dinosaurs were "co-equals" since the early phase of "dinosaur evolution," according to the scientists.
Scientists also theorized that the first sauropodomorphs were carnivorous which walked with their two legs, unlike their descendants, which were herbivorous and walked on four legs. This is based on the fossil's teeth, which are capable of eating small animals, including possibly, the Ixalerpeton. In contrast, the Ixalerpeton fed on small invertebrates and insects.
The lagerpetid fossil, which belongs to Ixalerpeton polesinensis and dinosaur fossil, specifically those of Buriolestes schultzi, were extracted from a rock, which according to scientists dated as early as 237 million years ago.
