Unaysaurus
Unaysaurus eating on a Sago Palm
Unaysaurus tolentinoi is one of the oldest known dinosaur. The fossil remains of this herbivorous representative from the group of Plateosauria was in the sediments of the Upper Triassic ( Norian ) of Brazil found. Only species described is Unaysaurus tolentinoi.
Paleontologists submitted in early December 2004 at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, the replica of approximately 228-208 million years old, Unaysaurus tolentinoi ago. The well-preserved skull and other remains of Unaysaurus tolentinoi were discovered in 1998 by accident by the pensioner Tolentino Marafiga on a walk near the town of Santa Maria in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.
The dinosaur was one of the first plants eaters on earth who walked on two legs. He was about 70 kg, 2.5 m long and up to 80 cm high. He was closely related to the European Plateosaurus. This relationship supports the theory of a once all continents comprehensive land mass that is called Pangaea.
The name Unaysaurus is derived from the word " unay " (u -na -hie ) of the language of the Tupi, which means " black water ". Unay is the Indian name for the region in which the fossil was found, the modern Portuguese name " Agua Negra " means the same thing.