The discovery of a spaniel-size ceratopsian that walked on its two hind legs reveals that Late Jurassic horned dinosaurs were much more diverse than previously thought, a new study finds.
Researchers uncovered the remains of the 160-million-year-old, plant-eating creature in China’s Gobi desert. The new specimen has a unique ornamental texture on its skull, and it’s much smaller than its famous distant cousin, Triceratops, which lived about 95 million years later in North America during the Late Cretaceous, the researchers said.
Though its anatomy suggests the newfound beast was an early horned dinosaur, it didn’t sport any horns. That’s no surprise — other early horned dinosaurs, including the small bipedal Yinlong downsi, which the researchers found in the same Gobi desert fossil bed, didn’t have horns, either, the researchers said.
Researchers uncovered the remains of the 160-million-year-old, plant-eating creature in China’s Gobi desert. The new specimen has a unique ornamental texture on its skull, and it’s much smaller than its famous distant cousin, Triceratops, which lived about 95 million years later in North America during the Late Cretaceous, the researchers said.
Though its anatomy suggests the newfound beast was an early horned dinosaur, it didn’t sport any horns. That’s no surprise — other early horned dinosaurs, including the small bipedal Yinlong downsi, which the researchers found in the same Gobi desert fossil bed, didn’t have horns, either, the researchers said.
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