In a groundbreaking study that's turning heads in the world of paleontology, evidence has surfaced suggesting that dinosaurs tread across the northern hemisphere millions of years before the textbooks told us they did. It seems the Age of Dinosaurs is getting a rewrite courtesy of some old bones dug up in Wyoming. According to a recent report by University of Wisconsin–Madison researchers, these ancient fossils belong to the oldest known dinosaur found in North America, an impressive title previously unclaimed.
The creature, dubbed Ahvaytum bahndooiveche by the scientists, roamed the earth approximately 230 million years ago – around the same time those in the southern hemisphere were just starting to make their mark. This find is paramount, not only because it introduces us to a new prehistoric being but also because, it places dinosaurs in the northern parts of the ancient supercontinent Pangea far earlier than previously established. The fossils were unearthed back in 2013, yet their significance is only now fully coming to light, an announcement by the researchers reported by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
This recalibration of dinosaur history is based on analysis conducted by a University of Wisconsin–Madison team led by Dave Lovelace, a research scientist at the university's Geology Museum, alongside graduate student Aaron Kufner. These ancient reptiles, once believed to have evolved in the southern realms before trekking northward, already had their footing firm on northern land, an assertion that is shaking up long-held beliefs. "We have, with these fossils, the oldest equatorial dinosaur in the world — it’s also North America’s oldest dinosaur" Lovelace indicated in a statement.
The details surrounding this ancient North American inhabitant were shared in a detailed paper released on Jan. 8, 2025, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The findings not only challenge the mainstream view of dinosaur evolution but also, enrich the narrative of these prehistoric giants – a story that grows more complex with every layer of earth turned.
