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Scientists identify 230-million-year-old parrot-beaked reptile in Brazil
Researchers from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM) in Brazil have identified a new 230-million-year-old reptile species with a parrot-like beak, discovered in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.
Led by paleontologist Rodrigo Temp Muller and master's student Jeung Hee Schiefelbein, the team described the species, named Isodapedon varzealis, in the journal Royal Society Open Science, based on a fossil skull unearthed in the municipality of Agudo in 2020.
The quadrupedal herbivorous reptile, which belongs to a group known as rhynchosaurs, is estimated to have measured between 1.2 and 1.5 meters in length (3.9 and 4.9 inches), with its distinctive pointed beak likely used for cutting plants and digging for roots.
Preparing the fossil took more than six months, as researchers carefully removed sediment from the skull's delicate tooth region, which holds the key features needed to identify the species at a taxonomic level.
The discovery brings the total number of known rhynchosaur species from the Brazilian Triassic to six, with the new species found in rock layers already home to three others, suggesting the group reached peak diversity at the same time as the earliest dinosaurs were emerging.
A kinship analysis revealed strong similarities between the Brazilian specimen and a rhynchosaur of the same age found in Scotland, a connection researchers attribute to the existence of the supercontinent Pangaea some 230 million years ago, when animals could roam freely across landmasses without oceanic barriers.
Rhynchosaur fossils are also noted for their value as geological time markers, helping scientists better date rock formations where they are found. — Reuters
