A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline

Written and edited by the WorldPing NewsdeskPublished Updated Original reporting: ScienceDaily

What happened

A newly identified 240-million-year-old animal from Tanzania is forcing scientists to rethink the early dinosaur timeline.

Dinodontosaurus isiyavamanda belongs to a group previously known only from South America, linking fossil deposits on the two continents.

Key facts

  • A newly identified 240-million-year-old animal from Tanzania is forcing scientists to rethink the early dinosaur timeline.
  • Reported by ScienceDaily and published Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:48:08 UTC.

Why it matters

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Coverage timeline

When each newsroom published on this story, oldest first — all times UTC.

  1. A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline

  2. Half-billion-year-old fossils rewrite the origin story of starfish

Sources

The original report was published by ScienceDaily. WorldPing does not claim that reporting — this page summarises and contextualises it.

Read the full report at ScienceDaily

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