Look at this incredible new armored dinosaur found in Utah

They call this newly discovered dinosaur "thorny head", and that changes what we know about North American ankylosaurs, heavily armored herbivores who had the misfortune to live alongside the Tyrannosaurus rex during the late Cretaceous period

Here Akainacephalus johnsoni a new species and a kind of ankylosaurid dinosaur. It is considered the most complete Upper Cretaceous ankylosaur ever found in Utah – or throughout the southwestern United States from elsewhere. Unlike other North American ankylosaurs that lived at the same time, this particular dinosaur had points and cones on its head and muzzle, hence its name which translates as "thorny head". johnsoni honors Randy Johnson, a museum volunteer who helped prepare his skull. The details of this remarkable new creature have been published today in the PeerJ scientific journal

The fossilized remains of Akainacephalus johnsoni were discovered at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in central Ontario. south of Utah. His bones were buried in rocks dating back 76 million years of the Kaiparowits Formation, a geological layer composed of sedimentary rocks deposited by rivers and streams.

Working in this high desert, the paleontologists of the Museum of Natural History of Utah and the University of Utah have managed to extract a number of bones including a perfectly preserved complete skull, bone armor (including rings and plaques). , several vertebrae, one forelimb, various bones of the hind limb, and almost complete tail with iconic ankylosaur club still attached. In all, it took Palaeontologists nearly four years to assemble and completely prepare the bones for analysis.

Akainacephalus johnsoni had a medium build, measuring between 13 and 16 feet (4-5 m) long and about 3.5 feet tall (1.5 m) at the hips. His four legs were positioned directly under his body. Like other ankylosaurid dinos, this creature was built for defense; it had tremendous armor from head to tail, including bone plates called osteoderms. His head was adorned with a crown-shaped blanket of spikes and horns, and the tip of his tail was equipped with a large bony club, probably used to repel predators. Indeed, as its tank-like appearance indicates, A. johnsoni needed these extreme defenses to survive the brutal conditions of late Cretaceous North America. This herbivore has been in regular contact with its contemporary Tyrannosaurus rex among other predators.

This discovery shows that ankylosaurids were more diverse in their physical characteristics than paleontologists thought. These dinosaurs appeared in Asia between 125 million and 100 million years ago, but there is no sign of it in the fossil record of North America until it about 77 million years ago. The tips and cones found on the skull of Akainacephalus resemble those of his cousin ankylosaurid, New Mexico Nodocephelausaurus kirtlandensis but that is about all. Other North American ankylosaurids, such as Ankylosaurus Euoplocephalus and Ziapelta had a smooth bone armor on their skull.

The authors of the new study, Jelle P. Wiersma of Utah's Natural History Museum and Randall B. Irmis of the University of Utah, suspect that Akainacephalus and New Mexico Nodocephelausaurus are more closely related to some Asian ankylosaurids. One working hypothesis is that two distinct groups of ankylosaurid dinosaurs have existed in North America during this period, and that a second wave of migration from Asia, probably via a land bridge, has occurred. made possible.

Excitingly, fossil casts Akainacephalus johnsoni are now on display in the Natural History Museum of Utah to Salt Lake City If you are in the area, check it out and let us have a review of the show below.

[PeerJ]