Dinosaurs: Footprints discovery in Brazil reveals new species Farlowichnus rapidus
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The Farlowichnus rapidus is a brand new species of dinosaur
A new species of dinosaur has been discovered in Brazil, after footprints found in the city of Araraquara were studied.
The trackways, as scientists call them, were found in the 1980s by an Italian priest and palaeontologist (the word for someone who studies the history of life on Earth based on fossils).
They were donated to Brazil's Museum of Earth Sciences to study in 1984, and scientists there have now realised the footprints don't match any other dinosaur tracks on record.
The new species, called Farlowichnus rapidus, was a small, speedy carnivore that lived in the desert during the early Cretaceous period, according to researchers.
The footsteps were spaced quite far apart, which led researchers to believe the dinosaur could run very quickly through the desert dunes
It lived in the desert
It was a carnivore, so only ate meat
It was 60-90 cm (2-3 feet) tall
The early Cretaceous period stretched from 100 to 145 million years ago.
"From the large distance between the footprints found, it is possible to deduce that it was a very fast reptile that ran across the ancient dunes," the geological service said in a statement.
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