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Contender for world’s oldest dinosaur identified

African specimen suggests lineage may have arisen 15 million years earlier than thought

By Tanya Lewis

- More than 2 years ago

What may be the most ancient dinosaur ever found — or at least a very close relative to the oldest currently known examples — could push the appearance of the awesome beasts back to 243 million years ago.

FIRST OF ITS KIND Nyasasaurus parringtoni, depicted in this illustration (center), is either the oldest known dinosaur yet discovered or a close relative to the oldest currently known specimen.