Photo: Dinosaurs' Rise Was Slow, Not "Lucky Break," New Fossils Suggest

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A quartet of dinosaurs and dino predecessors roam side-by-side during the late Triassic, about 220 million years ago, in this artist's rendering.

A newly discovered dino relative called Dromomeron romeri (lower left) is among a trove of fossils found in New Mexico that suggests that the rise of dinosaurs was gradual rather than sudden.

Illustration by Donna Braginetz, © Science

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