A new species of dinosaur has been identified by scientists from the fossilized footprints found in Brazil. The dinosaur, named Farlowichnus rapidus, was a small and fast carnivore that lived in the desert during the early Cretaceous period, about 100 to 145 million years ago.
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The discovery was announced by Brazil’s geological service on Thursday and published in the scientific journal Cretaceous Research. The researchers said that the new species was about the size of a modern-day seriema bird, or about 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 feet) tall. It had long legs and claws, and could run across the ancient dunes at high speed.
“From the large distance between the footprints found, it is possible to deduce that it was a very fast reptile that ran across the ancient dunes,” the geological service said in a statement.
The footprints of Farlowichnus rapidus were first discovered in the 1980s by Italian priest and paleontologist Giuseppe Leonardi in what today is the city of Araraquara, in Sao Paulo state. Leonardi donated one of the footprint samples, found in the so-called Botucatu formation, a group of rocks formed by an ancient dune desert, to Brazil’s Museum of Earth Sciences (MCTer) in 1984.
The footprints are different from all other known dinosaur footprints, said MCTer paleontologist Rafael Costa. He explained that the footprints have three toes, but only two of them touch the ground, while the third one is raised. This indicates that the dinosaur had a specialized foot structure that allowed it to run faster and more efficiently.
Costa also said that the new species belongs to a group of dinosaurs called theropods, which includes famous predators such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor. However, Farlowichnus rapidus is more closely related to a subgroup of theropods called coelurosaurs, which are characterized by having feathers and being more agile and diverse.
The discovery of Farlowichnus rapidus adds to the growing knowledge of the diversity and evolution of dinosaurs in South America, especially in Brazil, where many fossils have been found in recent years. Brazil is home to some of the oldest and most unique dinosaur species in the world, such as the long-necked herbivore Tapuiasaurus macedoi and the armored herbivore Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani.
The researchers hope that the new species will inspire more studies and public interest in the paleontology of Brazil, as well as the conservation of its geological heritage.