Skeleton of one of the oldest dinosaurs is found in Argentina

Argentine scientists have discovered in the Andes Mountains an almost complete skeleton of an unknown species of dinosaur that lived around 230 million years ago, the state scientific institute Conicet announced on Wednesday.

The skeleton, of the long-necked species called “Huayracursor jaguensis“, was found 3,000 meters above sea level, in the province of La Rioja, by a paleontology team from the institute. The discovery was published in the specialized journal Nature.

The researchers reported that the species dates back to the Late Triassic period, when the first dinosaurs and the ancestors of mammals appeared. “We estimate that Huayracursor is between 230 and 225 million years old, making it one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world,” said Agustín Martinelli, one of the paper’s authors.