An exciting study published today in the journal Biology Letters announces the discovery of a new dinosaur species, one which turned out to be the oldest long-necked sauropod in the entire fossil record. Dubbed Macrocollum itaquii, the newfound dinosaur species was described from three skeletons unearthed in Brazil, and represents an early ancestor of the sauropod mega-herbivores that roamed the Earth throughout the Mesozoic Era. Classified as a sauropodomorph — a clade of dinosaurs that includes sauropods and their ancestral relatives — Macrocollum itaquii was dated to approximately 225 million years ago, reports Phys.org.
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