A new species of dinosaur from the early Jurassic period has been discovered in southwestern China, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal eLife.
Scientists originally found the remains of an armored dinosaur, which they called Yuxisaurus kopchicki, in 2017 in the Yuxi region of Yunnan Province, an area that has long been a hotspot for dinosaur discoveries. Research on the specimens began in 2019, according to study author Shundong Bi, a professor at Indiana University in Pennsylvania.
The ancient creature belongs to the thyreophoran group, the same as its distant cousin Stegosaurus, said study author Paul Barrett, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London.
The dinosaur likely lived from 192 million to 174 million years ago and is the first thyrophore from this period to be identified in the region, according to the study.
“This is the first armored dinosaur to be named from across the Asian continent and helps show how the group spread across the world soon after its origin, just a few million years earlier,” Barrett said by email.
O Yuxisaurus kopchicki it probably measured 2 to 3 meters long and ate low-growing plants like ferns and cycads, he said.
A collection of various fossils
A series of bony plates wrapped around the animal, covering its neck, back and limbs, with large spikes scattered atop the armor, Barrett said.
The spines served several purposes: deflecting the jaws and teeth of most predators, as well as possibly being a tool to show off to other members of your own species during territorial disputes or over mates, he explained.
Some modern animals that behave similarly are porcupines and hedgehogs, Bi said.
More than 120 bone deposits have been recovered from the excavation site, giving researchers enough material to confirm a new species, he said.
The finds included several fragments of a single skeleton, including parts of the armor plates, limbs, jaws and skull. The dinosaur’s heavy build and distinctive armor indicated that the researchers had a new species on their hands, Bi said.
In addition, the findings show the diversity of the dinosaur group and how quickly they spread across the Northern Hemisphere, he said.
The armored dinosaur’s closest relatives are the herbivore Scelidosaurus and Emausaurus — both of which originated in Europe during the Jurassic period, Barrett said.
Discover the Peirópolis Dinosaur Museum, in Minas Gerais
Source: CNN Brasil
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