04:28A team of Brazilian palaeontologists say they have discovered the well-preserved skeleton of a dinosaur thought to be around 200 million years old after it was unearthed by torrential rains near the city of Sao Joao Polesine.
Footage captured on Friday shows the team's leader, Rodrigo Temp Muller, surveying the area where the fossil was found and examining bones recovered from the site at a laboratory.
According to Muller, the dinosaur is a specimen of the 'Herrerasauridae' family and a bipedal predator which roamed the earth during the Triassic period.
"From this material, we practically have the entire skeleton," he explained. "Herrerassaurids are found here in Brazil, and in Argentina, and from what is preserved, we still cannot say if it is a new species or one already known."
Muller said his team is working to recover the remaining bones from the skeleton, claiming that it is currently the 'second most complete' in the world.
The fossil emerged amid a wave of deadly rains which washed over southern Brazil in May, killing at least 180 people. Muller explained that while helping his team discover the skeleton, the deluge 'accelerated erosion' and damaged the specimen.
"When we arrived, part of the material had already been lost, so even though this rain revealed this fossil, it was also already destroying it because it was a very strong event," he said.
The fossil will now undergo months of analysis as researchers work to determine the exact size and species of the dinosaur.
Rawr-some! Heavy rains unearth 200 million-year-old dinosaur in southern Brazil
A team of Brazilian palaeontologists say they have discovered the well-preserved skeleton of a dinosaur thought to be around 200 million years old after it was unearthed by torrential rains near the city of Sao Joao Polesine.
Footage captured on Friday shows the team's leader, Rodrigo Temp Muller, surveying the area where the fossil was found and examining bones recovered from the site at a laboratory.
According to Muller, the dinosaur is a specimen of the 'Herrerasauridae' family and a bipedal predator which roamed the earth during the Triassic period.
"From this material, we practically have the entire skeleton," he explained. "Herrerassaurids are found here in Brazil, and in Argentina, and from what is preserved, we still cannot say if it is a new species or one already known."
Muller said his team is working to recover the remaining bones from the skeleton, claiming that it is currently the 'second most complete' in the world.
The fossil emerged amid a wave of deadly rains which washed over southern Brazil in May, killing at least 180 people. Muller explained that while helping his team discover the skeleton, the deluge 'accelerated erosion' and damaged the specimen.
"When we arrived, part of the material had already been lost, so even though this rain revealed this fossil, it was also already destroying it because it was a very strong event," he said.
The fossil will now undergo months of analysis as researchers work to determine the exact size and species of the dinosaur.
A team of Brazilian palaeontologists say they have discovered the well-preserved skeleton of a dinosaur thought to be around 200 million years old after it was unearthed by torrential rains near the city of Sao Joao Polesine.
Footage captured on Friday shows the team's leader, Rodrigo Temp Muller, surveying the area where the fossil was found and examining bones recovered from the site at a laboratory.
According to Muller, the dinosaur is a specimen of the 'Herrerasauridae' family and a bipedal predator which roamed the earth during the Triassic period.
"From this material, we practically have the entire skeleton," he explained. "Herrerassaurids are found here in Brazil, and in Argentina, and from what is preserved, we still cannot say if it is a new species or one already known."
Muller said his team is working to recover the remaining bones from the skeleton, claiming that it is currently the 'second most complete' in the world.
The fossil emerged amid a wave of deadly rains which washed over southern Brazil in May, killing at least 180 people. Muller explained that while helping his team discover the skeleton, the deluge 'accelerated erosion' and damaged the specimen.
"When we arrived, part of the material had already been lost, so even though this rain revealed this fossil, it was also already destroying it because it was a very strong event," he said.
The fossil will now undergo months of analysis as researchers work to determine the exact size and species of the dinosaur.