Unaysaurus
| Unaysaurus Temporal range: Late Triassic,
| |
|---|---|
| Skeletal diagram showing known remains | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | †Sauropodomorpha |
| Clade: | †Bagualosauria |
| Clade: | †Unaysauridae |
| Genus: | †Unaysaurus Leal et al., 2004 |
| Type species | |
| †Unaysaurus tolentinoi Leal et al., 2004
| |
Unaysaurus is a genus of herbivorous unaysaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur. Discovered in southern Brazil, in the geopark of Paleorrota, in 1998, and announced in a press conference on Thursday, December 3, 2004, it is one of the oldest dinosaurs known. It is closely related to plateosaurid dinosaurs found in Germany, which indicates that it was relatively easy for species to spread across the giant landmass of the time, the supercontinent of Pangaea. The fossils of Unaysaurus are well-preserved. They consist of an almost complete skull, including a lower jaw, and partial skeleton with many of the bones still connected to each other in their natural positions. It is one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons (including complete skull) ever recovered in Brazil.