<em>Marasuchus</em> Was Built for Speed — and 5 Other Facts About the Dinosaur's Ancient Relative
Marasuchus is a small, speedy precursor to dinosaurs that lived during the Late Triassic Period. This tiny reptile thrived in the supercontinent Pangea and filled an ecological niche after a major extinction event. Despite its delicate structure, Marasuchus showcases the evolutionary beginnings of larger reptiles like dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
- ▪Marasuchus was a small reptile that lived around 230 million years ago in modern-day Argentina.
- ▪It was built for speed, with long legs and a tail that aided in balance and muscular power.
- ▪Marasuchus thrived in Pangea, a supercontinent that allowed for easier movement and survival after a mass extinction.
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Marasuchus is a precursor to dinosaurs, one of its closest relatives from the genus Dinosauriform Archosaur. It belongs to the same reptilian family tree as dinosaurs, birds, and pterosaurs, the flying reptiles from the Age of Dinosaurs. This close relative of the mega-dinosaurs that would come next was tiny and started out really low on the food chain, at risk of being eaten by most any other larger predator that lived around it.“Marasuchus shows us where dinosaurs came from, which were very humble beginnings,” Scott Persons, curator of Natural History at the South Carolina State Museum, told Discover. There’s a lot we don’t know about Marasuchus. Researchers haven’t found many specimens because it’s small and delicate, with thin limbs that easily break.
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