Laquintasaura Venezuelae: Bird-Hipped Dinosaur is First to Be Discovered in Venezuela

A new dinosaur species has been discovered in Venezuela – the first ever to have been found in the South American country.

Laquintasaura venezuelae was a dog-sized 'bird-hipped' dinosaur that lived shortly after the major extinction at the end of the Triassic Period, 201 million years ago.
Identified by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Zürich, bones from four L. venezuelae were found together in the La Quinta Formation in Venezuela.
The creatures found ranged from 3 to 12 years old. Scientists believe they lived in small groups, making it the earliest example of social behaviour among ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, which includes species like the stegosaurus and iguanodon.
Marcelo Sánchez-Villagra, co-author and palaeontologist at University of Zürich, said the known history of bird-hipped dinosaurs has many gaps as few specimens have been found: "This early -READ MORE