A team of archaeologists has announced this week the availability of senior citizenswell-known ankylosaur, well-known dinosaur for binding his weapons with a ring. In addition to its more than 160 million years of age, the ankylosaur also had a distinct shape, as the nerves protruding from the back of the animal were attached to its ribs.
Ankylosaurs were designed to protect themselves. Their black skulls and body armor are reminiscent of tanks, as well as archaeologists recently said the animals may have dug a hole in the ground to protect themselves. But new species, Spicomellus afer, is evident among these hardy creatures, as researchers explain in the new paper, published yesterday at Nature Ecology & Evolution.
“All ankylosaurs had spines on their backs, but in our comparison they are attached to the ribs. These are unseen evidence in any other ankylosaur, and in any animal, living or inanimate, ”said Susannah Maidment, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, told Gizmodo in an email. The study was also published by scientists at the University of Fez in Morocco and the University of Zürich in Switzerland.
“Ankylosaurs’ weapons are probably the ones that protect themselves,” said Maidment, who is senior author on a recent paper. “If only an animal could bite a person with such a sharp spinal cord!”
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All the artifacts contain a number of peaks, found by the National History Museum from the antiquities dealer in 2018. The smallest string extends 2 inches inches and the tallest is about 4 inches tall inches, though missing its tip. If you become a vegetarian, it may not be your first choice to eat.
The research team was not convinced at first what kind of dinosaur the dead pieces belonged to. The ancients emerged in the mountains of the Middle Atlas in Morocco, where stegosauruses once roamed, so it was possible. It wasn’t until the team examined the bone under a microscope and saw the unique shape of the osteoderms (a plate-like device that protects the animals) when they realized they were looking for an ankylosaur, the first to be found in Africa. This also gives the species its name: Spicomellus—“Rings of threats” –to close– “African.”
“This is a wonderful picture, but the ostricod ostriches come in amazingly beautiful ways. A number of European species, such as the Hungarosaurus, have a glistening appearance like this, ”said Victoria Arbor, an archaeologist at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Canada who specializes in ankylosaurs., told Gizmodo in an email.
“It’s wonderful to have another Middle Jurassic ankylosaur, since the ancient records of ankylosaurs from now on are very limited, and I think this adds some interesting evidence against the notion that stegosaurs were defeated by ankylosaurs at the end of the Jurassic, “added Arbor, who did not participate in recent studies.
Evidence for ankylosaurs is abundant in the Cretaceous period, however S. afer the romance from the Jurassic gives a beautiful picture in the oldest roots of the animal. Maidment said the research team hopes to return to the same stone Archeology came from seeing how many ankylosaurs since then can be found.
If so, it can help historians to understand as S. aferThe stone bindings were unusual or different –whether it was an example of the oldest ankylosaurs or a member carrying a dinosaur armor.
More: Armed Dinos can have dig pits to protect themselves, which you can learn