A new species of dinosaur from the group of oviraptosaurs, which had feathers like the birds, was discovered in Mongolia
The remains of the new species, an incomplete skeleton that includes a femur, a jaw and part of the skull, were discovered at the Nemegt Geological Formation in the Gobi Desert by a team of experts from the South Korean University of Seoul.
The site is rich with dinosaur fossils from the Late Cretaceous period around 70 million years ago, but this species appears to be distantly related to other oviraptorosaurs previously found at the site.
The new species, which is distinguished from the other ovirraptosaurs by its thick jaw, was given the name Gobiraptor minutus, in reference to the place where the fossil was found.
According to the authors of the study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, the morphology of this dinosaur supports the thesis that ovirraptosauros ate hard shell eggs, seeds or molluscs.
Palaeontologist Professor Yuong-Nam Lee, of Seoul National University in South Korea, said: 'The individual was likely a juvenile.'
The fact that traces of the new species, apparently from a very young specimen, according to analyses done to the femur, were discovered in the Nemegt geological formation, which has sedimentary deposits of rivers and lakes, testifies to scientists that ovirraptosaurs were well adapted to humid environments.
Ovrapraposaurs were a group of dinosaurs that grew up to 11 feet (3 metres) long and weighed up to 500lbs (225 kgs). They had a large toothless beak, long legs, huge feet and claw-tipped arms. They lived in the Cretaceous period, between 145 million and 66 million years, especially in the regions corresponding to the present North America, China and Mongolia.
But despite the abundance of skeletons discovered in southern China and Mongolia, their diet and feeding strategies are still unclear.
The discovery confirms these dinosaurs were extremely well adapted to wet environments.
'The unique morphology of the jaw and the accordingly inferred specialised diet of Gobiraptor also indicate different dietary strategies may be one of important factors linked with the remarkably high diversity of oviraptorids in the Nemegt Basin.'
The discovery follows another remarkable paleontological finding reported in Now Science on Feb. 4, which discussed a new species of dinosaur with giant spikes protruding from its neck like a menacing porcupine lizard hybrid. The Bajadasaurus pronuspinax, as its known, is definitely not as adorable as the tiny Gobiraptor though.
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