RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Scientists in Brazil have found dinosaur fossils in the Amazon, debunking a theory bones could not last in that climate.
The Federal University in Rio de Janeiro said its researchers found the remains of a new species of dinosaur, estimated to be 100 million years old, the BBC said Thursday.
The dinosaur is part of a group of long-necked, long-tailed plant-eaters called sauropods.
It has been named Amazonsaurus maranhensis, after Maranhao state.
Many scientists believe paleontology research in the Amazon rainforest is pointless, theorizing the high humidity of the region would have caused relatively rapid decay of fossils.
The Amazonsaurus belongs to the herbivorous sauropod Diplodocus family. The only sauropods found in Brazil before were Titanosaurs.
The Amazonsaurus is believed to have been one of the smallest sauropods -- about 30-feet long and weighing about 10 tons.
The university said similarities between the Amazon find and fossil fauna found in northwestern Africa backed the theory that South America and Africa were once part of the same continent.
