[ad_1]
Scientists discovered a new dinosaur in one of the places where such a discovery was highly improbable: North China. It was thought that dinosaurs had never existed in this part of the world, but this gigantic long-necked herbivore specimen dates back 15 million years before we thought that d & # 39; Others existed.
The discovery was made in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and dates back to about 174 million years ago. The Chinese and British scientists who made the discovery claim in their paper that they found "the first neosauropod", a family of dinosaurs that include famous giants like Brontosaurus and Diplodocus.
Neosauropods are a subset of sauropods – all members of these groups had similar features to thick legs resembling columns, long necks, small heads and reaching mbadive sizes. The new neosauropod, named Lingwulong shenqi or "Lingwu's amazing dragon", specifically reminds scientists of a Diplodocus
"We were surprised to find a close relative of Diplodocus in East Asia. 174 million years ago. since. It is generally believed that sauropods did not disperse there 200 million years ago and that many of their giant descendants reached this region much later, if at all, "says Upchurch, co-author and professor at University College London.
The team has been working on the Ningxia site since 2005, with 7 to 10 partial skeletons from four excavation sites to show their effort Lingwulong shenqi roaming around the area before one of the major geological events of the Earth, the disintegration of the supercontinent Pangea
Xing Xu / Chinese Academy of Sciences
"Our discovery of Lingwulong demonstrates that several types of advanced sauropods must have existed at least 15 million years earlier and spread throughout the world while the supercon The main Pangea was still a consistent mbad.This forces a complete rebadessment of the origins and evolution of these animals, "says Upchurch.
As the most recently crowned neosauropodium, Lingwulong could offer clues about the evolution of dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are known for their inability to adapt to the comet that has reshaped the planet, but Lingwulong suggests that they reached advanced stages of evolution earlier than planned. The discovery could also rewrite the geological history of China.
"It was thought that Diplodocus neo-auras did not arrive in East Asia because this region was cut off from the rest of the world by the Jurbadic routes, its own distinctive and separate dinosaur fauna. , Lingwulong shows that these Diplodocus type sauropods were present after all, implying that the isolation of East Asia was less profound and ephemeral than we thought, "says Dr. Xing Xu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
It 's been less than a week since scientists in Utah announced the discovery of another new species, a thorn – headed dinosaur that was essentially a tank and, like Lingwulong shenqi For the extinct creatures there are hundreds of millions of years ago, there is still a shocking amount that humanity does not understand about dinosaurs, c & # 39; why some people still want to clone them
Source: Nature
Source link
