By Diego Vara

PARAISO DO SUL, Brazil (Reuters) -When physician Pedro Lucas Porcela Aurelio unearthed a fossil in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state in 2014, he could barely imagine his discovery would later help scientists better understand the rise of early reptiles.

Research identified that fossil as belonging to a four-legged ancient reptile, roughly the size of a small dog and with a long tail, dating back some 237 million years – making it one of the world’s oldest.

Finding the fossil of the species formally named Gondwanax paraisensis was a result of Aurelio’s longstanding love of paleontology, which he says has become much more than a hobby since he first started going on field trips in 1996.

“I adopted it as part of my life,” the 66-year-old nephrologist from the town of

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