A group of scientists found in Argentina the skeleton of an unknown dinosaur that would have lived 230 million years ago, making it one of the oldest in the world.
Berlin, October 17 (DW).- Argentine scientists from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet)they found in the Andes mountain range The almost complete skeleton of an unknown dinosaur species that lived approximately 230 million years ago, the state scientific institute reported Wednesday.
The skeleton of the long-necked species named Huayracursor jaguensis was found three thousand meters above sea level in the province of Riojaby a paleontological team from Conicet. The discovery was published in the specialized magazine Nature.
The researchers pointed out in a statement that the antiquity of the species places it in the late Triassic period, in which the first dinosaurs and the ancestors of mammals appeared.
“We estimate that Huayracursor must be between 230 and 225 million years old, which makes it one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world,” explained Agustín Martinelli, one of the authors of the article.
The species is part of a lineage of herbivorous dinosaurs that includes the long-necked giants, although an adult individual of this dinosaur was about two meters long and about 18 kilos, the researchers said.
🦕Scientists from CONICET find one of the oldest dinosaurs in the world in La Rioja.⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XXs3JmAeFy
— CONICET Dialoga (@CONICETDialoga) October 15, 2025
From the skeleton of the Huayracursor, a part of the skull was found, a complete vertebral series up to the tail and also practically complete forelimbs and hindlimbs. The authors of the article estimated that, due to the almost complete nature of the fossil, it will become a reference for studying the early evolution of dinosaurs.
A new deposit that will give a lot of if
But in 2015, the Conicet team began studying a potential new Upper Triassic site in the Quebrada de Santo Domingo, at an altitude of about three thousand meters in the Andes of La Rioja.
Compared to the two aforementioned geological basins, which had been investigated for almost 70 years due to their easy access, as they are located on a plain, the Quebrada de Santo Domingo is a less accessible terrain and more complex to explore, due to its altitude, strong winds and extreme climate.
“We started the work in 2015, and it was not easy to find remains, we almost gave up, but after two failed trips, in 2016 interesting fossils began to emerge,” he explained in an interview with EFE Martinelli.
The complete sauropod skeleton appeared in 2018, and “this is only the beginning of how much this geological unit with abundant fossil fauna will give,” Martinelli said.
Due to its relevance, the finding was published in the prestigious journal Nature.
📌Use pic.twitter.com/thxIXMda5a— CONICET Dialoga (@CONICETDialoga) October 15, 2025