Tiny fossil found in Madagascar could be a dinosaur relative
DINOSAURS MAY be known for their colossal size but it now seems they may be related to a species small enough to sit in the palm of your hand.
The tiny Kongonaphon kely of Madagascar, measuring just 4in tall, is believed by scientists to be an ancient relative of the larger reptiles that followed.
The creatures are thought to have lived around 237m years ago.
“There’s a general perception of dinosaurs as being giants, but this new animal is very close to the divergence of dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and it’s shockingly small,” said Christian Kammerer, a research curator in paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Researchers have analysed the “tiny bug slayer”, first unearthed in 1998 among hundreds of fossils, and believe it could be related to dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
“This fossil site in south-western Madagascar from a poorly known time interval globally has produced some amazing fossils, and this tiny specimen was jumbled in among the hundreds we’ve collected from the site over the years,” said John Flynn, a curator of fossil mammals at the American Museum of Natural History Frick. “It took some time before we could focus on these bones, but once we did, it was clear we had something unique and worth a closer look.
“This is a great case for why field discoveries – combined with modern technology to analyse the fossils recovered – are still so important.”
The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.