‘Vespersaurus paranaensis’: Small Predator That Lived 85 Million Years Ago Discovered In Brazil

Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com – Fossil of the first dinosaur of Paraná: Vespersaurus paranaensis , a predator of small animals that hunted in dunes, has been discovered by researchers from the University of São Paulo (USP), in collaboration with the Museum of Paleontology of Cruzeiro do Oeste and the City Hall of Cruzeiro do Oeste, Parana, Brazil.

Vespersaurus paranaensis , small, was a predator that lived 85 million years ago (Art: Rodolfo Nogueira)Vespersaurus paranaensis , was a small predator that lived 85 million years ago (Art: Rodolfo Nogueira)

It belongs to the lineage of the theropods, a group of two-footed, meat-eating and desert-based dinosaurs that included also the better known tyrannosaurus and velociraptor.

“It’s incredible that, nearly 50 years later, it seems that we have discovered what type of dinosaur would have produced those enigmatic footprints,” said Paulo Manzig of the Paleontology Museum of Cruzeiro do Oeste, and one of the authors of the paper published in Nature.

Manzig and the team studied the fossil with the help of tomography and digital reconstruction and were able to  confirm that footprints (already found in the 1970s in the paleontological site of this city of the interior of Paraná) are – the new dinosaur.

Dinosaur leg had 3 fingers: the middle one served as support, while the sides formed a "blade" to catch prey. Image credit: Rodolfo NogueiraDinosaur leg had 3 fingers: the middle one served as support, while the sides formed a “blade”
to catch prey. Image credit: Rodolfo Nogueira

With a length of 1.6 meters, 80 centimeters in height, weight of 15 kilos and arms with less than half the size of the legs, this carnivorous and bipedal dinosaur lived 85 million years ago in a desert environment, (in what is now Parana). The northeastern region of Parana was once a desert and the dinosaur’s remains suggest that the Vespersaurus was well adapted to that type of climate.

His vertebrae were full of cavity, and his teeth had serrations, resembled knives.

Factfile on the carnivorous theropod dinosaur, adapted to the prehistoric desert conditions of southern Brazil 90 million years ago. University of São Paulo (USP)/ Museum of Paleontology of Cruzeiro do Oeste

Factfile on the carnivorous theropod dinosaur, adapted to the prehistoric desert conditions of southern Brazil 90 million years ago. Credit: University of São Paulo (USP)/ Museum of Paleontology of Cruzeiro do Oeste via noticias.uem.br

According to information from the museum, “Vespersaurus paranaensis is the 8th dinosaur species described from Brazilian material that can be safely attributed to theropods.”

“With almost half the known skeleton, even with very little of the skull, it corresponds to the most fully preserved theropod in the country, the rest being known based on partial skulls, more incomplete skeletons, or even a few isolated bones,” Manzig said

Fossil of dinosaur dated to the Mesozoic Era is the subject of an international article published in NatureFossil of dinosaur is dated to the Mesozoic Era.  Image credit: Rodolfo Nogueira

The main author of the paper, Max Cardoso Langer, PhD in Sciences, professor and professor linked to the USP of Ribeirão Preto (SP), emphasizes that the animal’s hind leg was in blade format, which facilitated the capture of prey – two short lateral fingers served as this “weapon”, while the third finger, from the middle and longer, supported it on the ground.

“The dinosaur had a light skeleton, similar to what birds have,” added Langer, who records that “close relatives of him were recognized in Argentina and Africa.”

Written by Eddie Gonzales Jr. – MessageToEagle.com Staff