One of the world's oldest and probably the most primitive duck-billed dinosaurs, that possessed a built in horn to woo females, has been found in Mexico.
A team of international scientists has discovered the 72 million year old dinosaur, named Velafrons Coahuilensis, at a geological site known as the Cerro del Pueblo formation in Coahuila on the coast of north-central Mexico.
The 25-ft creature, a youngster that would have grown up to be 35 ft, had a fan-shaped bony crest on its skull filled with nasal passages.
According to the scientists, the appendage might have been used as a kind of trumpet, with air blown through it to make slowly or seductive sound for attracting mates.
And, like all its relatives, the creature was a plant eater. "The crested duck-billed dinosaurs' are an extraordinary example of vertebrate evolution," said lead scientist Terry Gates of Utah Museum of Natural History in Salt Lake City, who described the find in a journal.
Unlike other animals where the nose bone lies in front of their eyes, these dinosaurs transformed their skulls so that the nose rested atop their skull. The snout extended backward, up their face, in order to fill the gap left by the relocated nose bone.
Interestingly, breathing was not straight forward for Velafrons and its kin. Air flowed through a series of passages from the snout, into their crest, and finally inserting through a hole above their eyes.
According to the scientists, Mexico's arid climate poses challenges for dinosaur hunters, yet the fossils from Coahuila "turn out to be a vital part of the North American story for the latter part of the Age of Dinosaurs".
In addition to isolated skeletons, the researchers have also found large bonebeds of jumbled duck-bill and horned dinosaur skeletons.
These sites appear to represent mass death events, perhaps associated with powerful storms like those that are known to occur around the southern tips of Africa and South America today.
"The region was periodically hammered by monstrous storms, devastating miles of fertile coastline, apparently killing off entire herds of dinosaurs.
"But, now that we've cracked open this amazing window into the world of dinosaurs, we look forward to future expeditions that will undoubtedly reveal more of Mexico's ancient past," co-researcher Scott Sampson said.
Source: DDNEWS
Comment and add to the story without registration, but keep the comments meaningful please. Links are not accepted.
