New discovery suggests dinosaurs 'originated in South America'

Washington, December 12 (ANI): The discovery of the remains of a dog-size T. Rex ancestor has shed new light on dinosaur evolutionary history, a new study claims.

Hikers at New Mexico's fossil-rich Ghost Ranch found the 6 feet long and 215-million-year-old Tawa hallae.

It also includes the tail of the extinct animal, reports the National Geographic News.

According to researchers, the dinosaur has characteristics, like air sacs, that link it to older dinosaur species found in South America.

An earlier theory suggests that Pangaea, the earliest dinosaurs were found in South America, which later diversified into three lineages and migrated out to the rest of the world.

And, it was at a time when all continents were one as a single supercontinent.

Now, scientists claim the latest discovery has only boosted the theory.

The National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration partly funded the study.

The study has published in the December 11 issue of the journal Science. (ANI)