Ancient remains of a Jurassic dinosaur discovered in India (photo)

A team of archaeologists has discovered the first-ever remains of a sauropod dicreosaurus in India. The fossil (part of the dorsal vertebra) was unearthed in the Thar Desert near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan.

Previous studies have shown that this area was a coastline along the Tethys Ocean in the Mesozoic era. The newly found fossil was dated to about 167 million years ago and identified as a representative of the dicreosaurids, Phys.org reports.

Representatives of this species were a group of long-necked dinosaurs that ate vegetation. This is the first member of the group found in India and the oldest in the world.

Read also: Perfectly preserved embryo found inside a fossilised dinosaur egg for the first time (photo)

The team named their new find Tharosaurus indicus. They note that dicreosaurids are part of a larger group called diplodocus, which all had long bodies, necks and spikes on the back of their necks.

The researchers note that T. indicus. has some small differences from others in its group, such as a long depression on the side of the neck bones and neural spines, which are thought to indicate that it had uniquely directed spines. It also had a vertebral anterior surface that resembled a heart near its tailbone.

As a reminder, a marine Antarctic "feathered" star with 20 "arms" was discovered off the coast of Antarctica. This creature was hitherto unknown.

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