Fossils are rare, but for paleontologists who know where to look, they can be found and studied. Every fossil is important, but some are more so than others, and one that was recently discovered is exceptionally important.

The fossil is of a femur bone, and after it was studied (the study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science) it was found to be of the cerapoda dinosaur.

What makes this fossil so important is that it is old. Much older than anything else from this dinosaur ever found.

It was located at a fossil site in Morocco, which experts suggest may indicate that this is where the species may have first evolved. In the years since, it has been able to spread throughout much of the world, so learning about its origins is important.

Prior to this find, the oldest example of a cerapoda fossil was dug up in Leeds, England. This one is about two million years older (at about 168 million years old), which also shows that this dinosaur species had a very long run.

When the femur fossil was found, it was quickly identified as coming from this dinosaur because of its unique anatomy.

Dr. Susannah Maidment of the Natural History Museum in London, who is the lead author of the study, told said in a recent interview:

“It had a groove on the back of the head of the femur (the bit that fits in the hip socket) for a ligament, and we only see that in cerapodans. Also, the head of the femur is really distinct and separated from the shaft on a neck, which we don’t see in earlier-diverging ornithischians.”

The fossil comes from the Middle Jurassic period. The same dig site has yielded several other fossils of other dinosaurs from the same time period, which makes it a very exciting place for researchers to look.

In fact, this is the same location where the oldest ankylosaur fossils were found and one of the oldest fossils from a stegosaur.

This is certainly a dig site that will be high on the list for continued research going forward.

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