The fossil remains of a diminutive early sauropod have been found in South Africa. Previous studies considered the specimen to be a juvenile. However, new research suggests that the fossil bone actually belonged to a fully grown adult.

Sauropods are a charismatic clade of dinosaurs known for their long necks and long tails. They were among the largest animals to ever walk the Earth and included well-known creatures such as Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus, Argentinosaurus, and Titanosaurus. Some of these large sauropods could exceed 70 tonnes in weight. Now, researchers have uncovered an early relative of these massive giants that was even smaller than a human, weighing only 70 kilograms.

Scientists had previously identified the single arm bone as belonging to a juvenile Massospondylus. However, the new research indicates that the bone is from a previously unknown species and that the individual it belonged to was a fully grown adult. While a new species cannot be described based on a single bone, the research suggests that the early ancestors of the sauropodomorphs were more diverse than previously realized. The newly discovered bone likely belonged to one of the smallest sauropodomorphs ever found.

A paper describing the findings has been published in Royal Society Open Science. Kimberley Chapelle, the lead author of the paper, said, “Until now, we didn’t know that early sauropodomorphs could get this small, so the smallest skeletons were assumed to be babies. We can now reassess these skeletons discovered in southern Africa and hopefully find a more complete individual from which we can name a new species.”

The fossil was discovered in 1978 in South Africa, within rocks that were dated to between 201 and 174 million years ago. These dinosaurs emerged after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event, which occurred between 251 and 201 million years ago. This extinction event, also known as “The Great Dying,” was the most severe in the planet’s history, resulting in the extinction of approximately 80 percent of all land and marine life.

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