Tag Archive for Closest Relative

Scientists Find Oldest Dinosaur — Or Closest Relative Yet

Photo: Herrerasaurus Skeleton replica at a special exhibition of the Naturmuseum Senckenberg. CREDIT: Eva K. SOURCE Wikipedia. (Public Domain)  Licensing

from Science Daily

Dec. 4, 2012 — Researchers have discovered what may be the earliest dinosaur, a creature the size of a Labrador retriever, but with a five foot-long tail, that walked the Earth about 10 million years before more familiar dinosaurs like the small, swift-footed Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus.

The findings mean that the dinosaur lineage appeared 10 million to 15 million years earlier than fossils previously showed, originating in the Middle Triassic rather than in the Late Triassic period. . . . Read Complete Report