[ad_1]
His remains were discovered in the Middle Atlas Mountains in Morocco, making Adratiklit the first stegosaurus to be found in North Africa.
It should be about 168 million years old.
There are only a few handfuls of vertebrae left and one arm bone, but these were enough for a team of paleontologists to confidently identify not only a new species, but also a new genus.
The study was led by Dr. Susannah Maidment, the Museum's dinosaur expert, in collaboration with Moroccan colleagues.
Susie says: "The discovery of A. Boulahfa is particularly exciting since we have dated it from the Middle Jurassic.
"Most of the known stegosaurs date from the late Jurassic period, making it the oldest definitive stegosaur described and helping to enhance our understanding of the evolution of this group of dinosaurs."
He's calling Adratiklit boulahfa Berber words for mountain (Adras) and lizard (tiklit). The name of the species, Boulahfa, refers to the place where the specimen was found.
Where does it come from Adratiklit live?
Adratiklit was a dinosaur in armor and herbivore and is part of the group of animals that includes ankylosaurs and stegosaurs. He would have lived on Gondwana, a former supercontinent.
When the stegosaurs lived, the Earth was divided into two supercontinents: Laurasia and Gondwana. Laurasia included the landmasses that today make up most of the continents of the northern hemisphere, and Gondwana eventually split into continental masses including Africa, South America, Australia and Antarctica.
The remains of stegosaurus Laurasia are diverse and common. Many have been found in rocks in North America, Asia and Europe.
But much less have been found from Gondwana.
Susie explains: "Most of the stegosaurs we know – including Sophie at the Museum, the most complete stegosaur found to date – have been found in Laurasian rock formations. However, this may not mean that stegosaurs were rare in Gondwana. This may be due to the fact that the Gondwana rock formations have been the subject of much less detailed excavation and study. & # 39;
The discovery of A. Boulahfa Let us add now to the theory that Gondwana's fossilized armored dinosaur archive is heavily biased by geological factors and collection efforts.
Susie adds, "What's exciting about this is that there could be a lot more armored dinosaurs to find in places that have not been up to now." searched. "
The family tree of dinosaurs
The specimen is closer to European stegosaurs like dacentrurus and Miragaia that it is true of the two genera already known in southern Africa.
Tom Raven, a Ph.D. student at the Museum, helped to establish the evolutionary relationships of the specimen. This type of study allows paleontologists to understand the relationship between this new dinosaur and the known stegosaurs.
Tom says, "Although originating from the African continent, our phylogenetic analysis revealed that, surprisingly, Adratiklit is more closely related to European stegosaurs than to the two known genera of southern Africa, Kentrosaurus and paranthodon& # 39;
The team hopes this discovery will pave the way for new discoveries of new genres across Gondwana. She travels to Morocco in the near future in search of additional remains. The specimens described in this study are now part of the Museum's dinosaur collection.
[ad_2]
Source link