New Predator 'Dawn Runner' Discovered In Early Dinosaur Graveyard
by Staff Writers
Chicago IL (SPX) Jan 17, 2011
A team of paleontologists and geologists from Argentina and the United States have announced the discovery of a lanky dinosaur that roamed South America in search of prey as the age of dinosaurs began, approximately 230 million years ago.
Sporting a long neck and tail and weighing only 10 to 15 pounds, the new dinosaur has been named Eodromaeus, the "dawn runner."
"It really is the earliest look we have at the long line of meat eaters that would ultimately culminate in Tyrannosaurus rex near the end of the dinosaur era," said Paul Sereno, University of Chicago paleontologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. "Who could foretell what evolution had in store for the descendants of this pint-sized, fleet-footed predator?"
Sereno and his colleagues describe a near-complete skeleton of the new species, based on the rare discovery of two individuals found side-by-side, in the journal Science. The paper presents a new snapshot of the dawn of the dinosaur era-a key period that has garnered less attention than the dinosaurs' demise.
More:
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/New_Predator_Dawn_Runner_Discovered_In_Early_Dinosaur_Graveyard_999.html