Science: New Long-Necked Stegosaurs Discovered

A stegosaurus who tried to compete with sauropods

When scientists talk about dinosaurs with long necks, it is natural to assume that they refer to sauropods, animals such as Diplodocus and Camarasaurus, huge animals with long necks and in many cases, the whip like tails long. However, a recent discovery of a Stegosaur in Portugal shows that when it came to the long-necked sauropods had one or two rivals. In addition to the classic features of Stegosaurus robust forelimbs, with a small head and beak plates extending along the back, these new Stegosaur had a neck much longer than any other known to science Stegosaur .

New species of Long-necked Stegosaur Portugal

This new type of Stegosaur named Miragaia longicollum (the long-necked creature Miragaia - the village in Portugal, where fossil bones have been found), nearly twice as many as the neck bones other members Stegosauridae .

A careful study of the fossilized bones of Miragaia longicollum indicate that this dinosaur had a neck shield surprisingly long, a longer neck than other known species of Stegosaur.

The humerus robust, the ulna and the radius of the forelegs were carefully excavated from their surrounding matrix by paleontologists and bones (called vertebrae) that form the long neck. Scientists have built a fairly detailed picture of the fossilized bones provides an estimate of the size of the animal to be around 5.5 to 6 meters in length. The bones represented on scale drawings which many were produced by paleontologists, show how much of the skeleton was found. A large part of the front end of this Stegosaur has been found, as well as large parts of the skull and ilium and pubis, a part of the structure of the hip that identify this as an ornithischian dinosaur.

Researchers Lisbon-based study Stegosaurus fossil bones

Dr. Octavio Mateus, a vertebrate paleontologist at the New University of Lisbon, against this new discovery with primitive kind Stegosaur Huayangosaurus, fossils have been found in the quarries Dashanpu China. This particular animal had nine vertebrae in the neck. However, such newly discovered was a total of 17 bone neck, the neck is about one third of the length of the body of the animal. Proportionally, the neck of Miragaia is about twice the length of the other members of the Stegosauridae, allowing comparisons with long-necked sauropods to do.

A new debate among paleontologists Triggered by Fossil Find

This discovery will reopen in Stegosaurs bipedalism and may indicate an adaptation for navigation on the taller vegetation compared to other Stegosaurs. Alternatively, a longer neck may have helped these animals reach into dense thickets of cycads to feed.

Discussing the new discovery, Dr. Richard Butler of the Natural History Museum in London said that fossil reveals a range of variation of the anatomy [in Stegosaurs] that paleontologists had no idea.

Dr. Mateus, is one of the leading paleontologists in Portugal and specializes in research on Jurassic dinosaurs found in his native country. He recently made headlines when he himself and his colleagues are vehemently opposed to the sale of a partial dinosaur tail a head of construction company.

Science

Thursday, December 27, 2012

New Long-Necked Stegosaurs Discovered

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