In 1998 in the South-Western part of Madagascar has been found a vast area with many fossilized remains of different ancient creatures. Their study required a lot of labor and time, but also brought interesting results. For example, scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur Kongonaphon kely, which means “tiny fighter bugs”. The name was given because of its size and diet this little dinosaur was no bigger than a kitten.
Kongonaphon kely lived in the Triassic period 237 million years ago, long before the era of the giant dinosaurs. However, he was among a group of Ornithodira, which refers to archosaurs, and assumed that it was the last common ancestors of dinosaurs and archosaurs. Baby Kongonaphon kely adds arguments in favor of this theory.
A study of the remains showed that the teeth Kongonaphon kely a lot of marks from crushing hard chitin shells of insects. Not the best food, and therefore not popular among other archosaurs – so tiny ancestor of the dinosaurs occupied a comfortable niche in the ecosystem. It became an evolutionary advantage, which was followed by others, like the ability to run effectively on two feet, the appearance of down and wool, the development of the ability to fly. All services already distant descendants Kongonaphon kely, but the beginning of their kind put it, a tiny fighter bugs.
The relative size of Kongonaphon kely and one of the earliest dinosaurs – herrerasauridae — PNAS