A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline

A newly identified 240-million-year-old animal from Tanzania is forcing scientists to rethink the early dinosaur timeline. Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda belongs to a group previously known only from South America, linking fossil deposits on the two continents. That connection suggests Tanzania’s supposed oldest dinosaur fossils may actually be millions of years younger than previously thought.

A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline. The species, named Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda, could do more than add a new animal to the fossil record. According to researchers led by the University of Bristol, the discovery may help scientists more accurately date one of the world’s most important fossil regions and refine the timeline for the earliest stages of dinosaur evolution.

The findings were published September 15 in the Journal of Vertebrate Palaeontology. They suggest that some fossils from Tanzania once considered candidates for the earliest dinosaurs may actually be younger than scientists had thought. A Fossil Mystery More Than 60 Years Old The story began in 1963, when a British expedition collected a large number of synapsid fossils from what is now Tanzania.