Saturday, October 10, 2015

The horror of October. Incisivosaurus

Incisivosaurus was a rather bizarre looking dinosaur thanks to its oversized front teeth of the upper jaw.‭ ‬More interesting though is the fact that these teeth show wear patterns that fit in with a herbivorous diet,‭ ‬an‭ ‬indication that although a theropod,‭ ‬Incisivosaurus was at the very least partially herbivorous.‭ ‬Apart from this,‭ ‬Incisivosaurus was a primitive oviraptosaur and possible ancestor to the later oviraptosaurids that lived at the end of the Cretaceous.‭ ‬Later oviraptorids would have toothless beaks,‭ ‬but the discovery of Incisivosaurus indicates how their toothed ancestors may have looked.
       There has been speculation that Incisivosaurus may be the same genus as the earlier named Protarchaeopteryx,‭ ‬though a lack of fossils for both genera makes it impossible to be certain of this at the time of writing.

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