Dr. Luciano Artemio Leal from the Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia and associates gathered the brand-new dinosaur product from the Cerro da Alemoa outcrop in southern Brazil.

“The Cerro da Alemoa outcrop is a substantial geologic and faunistic record of the Santa Maria Supersequence in the main part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul,” they discussed.

The product dates to the Carnian age of the Late Triassic date, in between 237 and 227 million years back.

It is made up of small bones, all smaller sized than 5.7 cm (2.2 inches) in length, consisting of a partial humerus, a metatarsal, an ungual phalanx, a neural arch, and a vertebral centrum.

Phylogenetic and physiological analyses performed by the group puts the specimen strongly within the basal sauropodomorph clade.

“The specimen is an essential juvenile dinosaur,” the paleontologists stated.

“A combined analysis of its morphology, osteohistology, and phylogeny positions it as a basal sauropodomorph from the Brazilian Triassic duration.”

Unlike later sauropodomorphs that accomplished massive body sizes, this early type appears to have had a much smaller sized stature while still in advancement.

Most importantly, the bone microstructure exposes proof of a minimum of one total cycle of development disruption with a line of jailed development, recommending that the private skilled stops briefly in advancement early in life.

This pattern suggests that even at little body sizes, early sauropodomorphs might have embraced versatile development techniques– a finding that might assist discuss the later introduction of gigantism in this group.

“The observed functions recommend a person still in advancement, having actually currently undergone its very first development arrest and being midway through its 2nd cycle,” the scientists stated.

“These analyses recommend ontogenetic functions of a juvenile sauropodomorph with a single development arrest.”

“Our outcomes supply proof for unique development techniques throughout the early advancement of this group, causing the development of small-bodied dinosaurs in the Triassic.”

The findings will be released in the April 2026 concern of the journal Palaeoworld

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Leomir Santos Campos et al2026. A brand-new small basal Sauropodomorpha (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Santa Maria Supersequence, Upper Triassic of southern Brazil. Palaeoworld 35 (2 ): 201064; doi: 10.1016/ j.palwor.2025.201064