New species revealed: The first ‘dwarf titanosaur’ in the Americas was discovered in the interior of SP | Sao Jose do Rio Preto and Aratuba

It is located around Iberania Parva, a titanosaur five to six meters long, a herbivorous species known for its large neck. It is considered the first “dwarf” of the Americas.

The name comes from the intersection of the words Ibera, the city in which it was found,Anya ‘, which in Greek means ‘pilgrim’, andsilly”a Latin word meaning small.

This discovery came from work carried out since the 1990s and published in an international scientific journal last Thursday (15).

In an interview with g 1Bruno Navarro, a paleontologist at the University of São Paulo’s Museum of Zoology (USP) and lead predecessor of the discovery, provided details about the work the researchers did.

The collections began in 1999, the year they found some fossils of the new species. But the material of the universal pattern – the individual with the name of the species – was discovered by Professor D. Marcelo Adorna Fernandez, in 2005, Bruno said.

Viriato Antônio Lobo de Araújo is Ibirá’s Minister of Tourism and was one of the excavation volunteers. He was responsible for finding the materials at Villa Ventura, where the work was carried out.

“Marcello explained to us how he did it. When I was digging, I saw only one chip. When I started digging, I was able to find the fossil,” explained the secretary.

The material found by Marcello and Feriato was an analysis by Bruno in 2015. This year he began noticing some characteristics of the fossil and realized it could be a new species.

“When we collect a type of fossil, we compare it to another that is similar to it. If we notice something different, we look deeper, if it can indicate kinship. But that is all for analysis,” Bruno said.

Through the work, Bruno and the researchers realized that the new species had some anatomical characteristics that differed from other species.

One of them is that structures Iberania Parva They provided excessive ventilation of the axial skeleton, that is, hollow spaces in the vertebrae, even while preserving remnants of the air sacs, used for temperature control. This type of structure is similar to birds and is different from other dinosaurs.

In addition to demonstrating that the species was smaller compared to other titanosaurs, what surprised the team was that the “dwarf” shape was the first recorded in the Americas.

“Pygmy titanosaurs have been reported since 1915 in some places in Europe. But the continent was an archipelago, so the confinement between them forced these animals to be small due to the issue of space and resources. So, our surprise was: What is a pygmy animal doing in Brazil”, Bruno said.

Since the Ibirá region had nothing to do with the sea, the researchers were excited to understand how the environment at the time affected the size of the species.

According to Bruno, one of the first reasons is this species’ preference for a low diet, such as shrubs.

Moreover, in the Cretaceous period, which was when Iberania Parva Long lived, the northwest region of São Paulo was characterized by dry and long seasons, as well as an extremely dry climate. It was this hostile environment that chose the small herbivorous dinosaurs.

Young animals would have greater endurance, because they needed fewer resources, and were able to maintain themselves in specific plant shelters. In other words, the smaller the size, the greater the chances of surviving in these environments,” he explains.

Other discoveries and their historical significance

Ibra was once the scene of discoveries of other types of dinosaurs. One of them was Thanos Simonato, a carnivorous species whose pit was found in the municipality in 2018.

In 2020, aA tortoise with a length of 15-20 cm, which lived with dinosaurs and hungry crocodiles, was found in the city.

For this reason, Ferriato said the municipality already has projects to create its own museum in the city, particularly in Villa Ventura, where most of the excavations have been found.

“We have submitted a request in the state of São Paulo to convert an abandoned school building into a city museum, even as a way to increase tourism in the area,” he says.

See the dinosaurs discovered in the area

Titanosaurus: It was a herb over 20 meters tall. Fossils have been found throughout the northwest region of São Paulo, being the largest collection from the museum. She had an elongated neck and tail, she roamed all over the area in search of food.

Megaraptor:It was about 10 meters long. A fossil of a vertebra and a possible tooth was found in the Ibera region. It was the top of the food chain in the region and had powerful claws.

Thanos Simonatoi: He was close to far from the T-Rex, he was about 5 meters long and was a carnivore. A vertebra fossil found in Ibera. It had very short front legs.

Maniraptura: Another carnivorous animal was about two meters long. Unlike other dinosaurs, this dinosaur was covered in feathers. Teeth and vertebrae are found throughout the region.

Other animals: In addition to dinosaurs, other types of animals also lived in the area, such as fish and prehistoric crocodiles, such as borschoids, pterosaurs, and spagisaurs.

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