Una nuova specie di dinosauro è stata scoperta nel nord Venezuela, nella zona di La Quinta. Il Laquintasaura – questo il nome della nuova specie – aveva le dimensioni di un cane di piccola-media grandezza: un metro di lunghezza per 25 centimetri di altezza. L’animale era principalmente erbivoro ma si nutriva anche di insetti e piccole prede, secondo quanto si spiega nello studio pubblicato sulla rivista Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
È la prima volta che un rettile preistorico viene ritrovato nel nord del Sudamerica. Le sue ossa fossilizzate – risalenti a 200 milioni di anni fa, all’inizio del Giurassico – sono state trovate insieme a quelle di altri esemplari giovani e adulti, a dimostrazione del fatto che vivessero in branco, e quindi con un complesso sistema di interazioni sociali mai osservato finora in questo tipo di animali fino al tardo Giurassico.
Il ritrovamento di questi fossili in Venezuela dimostra che i dinosauri vivevano in aree che finora erano ritenute inospitali per loro.
RedMM/ansa/mrj
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