Dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago, yet we’re still learning about them. Since 2003, paleontologists have discovered more than 45 new dinosaur species each year. The rate of discovery is amazing, and scientists are changing our understanding of the prehistoric world during this golden age of paleontology.
According to Tom Holtz of the University of Maryland, 42 new dinosaur species have been discovered. Scientists also have a more detailed understanding of what a dinosaur “species” is. Paleontologists formerly awarded the name Iguanodon to fossils dating back tens of millions of years. Reassessments have revealed that Iguanodon is multiple species.
Scientists are making astonishing findings about known dinosaurs. It includes details about their scaly skin, digestive and reproductive tracts, cellular structure, social displays, and even how some nested in arctic zones. The combined results show how diverse and odd these archaic species were.
Let’s have a look at some coolest findings about dinosaurs.
1. Duck-Billed Dinosaurs Could Swim?
Ajnabia odysseus, a recently discovered duck-billed dinosaur, was discovered in an unexpected location. A November investigation discovered its fossils in Morocco. “It seemed entirely out of context, like finding a kangaroo in Scotland,” paleontologist Nicholas Longrich of the University of Bath said in a statement.
Duckbills originated in North America and spread to South America, Asia, and Europe. However, when A. Odysseus was alive 66 million years ago, Africa was an island continent. So, how did it arrive there?
2. Mexican Dinosaur with a Comma-shaped Crest
José and Rodolfo López Espinoza discovered an incredible fossil in Coahuila Province, southern Mexico, in 2005: the almost entire tail of a dinosaur that lived 72 million years ago.
In 2013, a team of Mexican paleontologists visited the site to excavate the remains, unearthing more of the species, including its head. The dinosaur, revealed in Cretaceous Research in May, was one-of-a-kind.
Tlatolophus galorum is a lambeosaur, which is a species of herbivorous dinosaur. The dinosaur’s name comes from the tlahtolli. It is a comma-like mark in Aztec iconography that stands for “word” in the Nahuatl language. To honor persons who helped with the fossil collecting, the species name galorum combines two family names, Garza and López.
Tlatolophus was probably 26 feet long from snout to tail and about 6.5 feet tall at the hip. Scientists believe the animal was a close relative of the renowned crested lambeosaur Parasaurolophus, which is seen drinking from a lake towards the beginning of the film Jurassic Park.
Tlatolophus adds to the variety of known crest shapes, which presumably played an important role in the dinosaurs’ social lives by influencing the sound of their calls.
3. Dueling Dinosaurs sold to the museum
Scientists studied two famous dinosaur fossils. The so-called “Dueling Dinosaurs,” the remains of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops on record, who may (or may not) have been dueling at the time of their deaths, will move to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) over a $6 million deal.
The “Dueling Dinosaurs” were discovered by amateur fossil hunters in Montana in 2006, but they were unable to locate a buyer. The fossils also failed to sell at an auction in 2013. Then came the lawsuit, with the former owners of the land claiming ownership of the fossils.
On the other hand, the 67 million-year-old Dueling Dinosaurs, are getting an incredible exhibit that will invite the public and schoolchildren to participate as scientists & slowly learn about the dinosaurs trapped in stone.
4. Armored Dinosaur Swung an Unusual Tail
The armored ankylosaurs are iconic dinosaurs that are sometimes depicted as “living tanks.” Some of the last and largest, such as Ankylosaurus, even had heavy bone clubs at the end of their tails. However, paleontologists are discovering that ankylosaurs evolved a wider range of defensive armor than previously thought. Stegouros elengassen, reported last year from bones discovered in 72-to-75-million-year-old Chilean rock, was an ankylosaur with a fern-like bone splash at the end of its tail. No other dinosaur has a tail like that, which makes paleontologists speculate what other odd layouts armored dinosaurs might have had back in the day.
5. Tyrannosaurs had fight clubs
Fearsome tyrannosaurs bit each other’s faces, but most likely not to kill. According to a September study published in the journal Paleobiology, these predators become aggressive while competing for prizes such as territory, mates, or better status,
This insight into dinosaur behavior was gained by studying 324 tyrannosaur skulls and jaws with many scars. Because only roughly half of the older tyrannosaurs had these scars, it’s possible that only adult members of one sex participated in these rumbles.
6. Two knocks against Nanotyrannus
Some experts believe certain tyrannosaur fossils are from a miniature tyrannosaurus dubbed Nanotyrannus, while others believe the remains are from a teenage Tyrannosaurus rex. The majority of researchers frequently state that Nanotyrannus has not been ruled out, therefore until additional evidence accumulates, the beast could have been real.
Unfortunately for Nanotyrannus, the year 2020 brought two papers claiming it was a juvenile T. rex. Researchers analyzed two well-known tyrannosaurus specimens, dubbed Jane and Petey, in a January study published in the journal Science Advances. A bone examination revealed that Jane and Petey were only 13 and 15 years old, respectively, and that their bones were growing rapidly, just like a teenager’s.
The second study, published in the journal PeerJ in June, examined 44 different T. rex individuals. It also examined the species’ growth stages. The teenage T. rexes fit the growth curves exactly, demonstrating that Nanotyrannus is a T. rex and not a distinct species.
7. A “shark-toothed” dinosaur was larger than its rival tyrannosaur
Consider witnessing a large tyrannosaur and assuming it is the top predator in its habitat. But you’d be mistaken, for an even bigger dinosaur lumbers into view, and boy is it massive! According to a September study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, this beast, Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis, was a shark-toothed dinosaur, or carcharodontosaur. Tyrannosaurs’ cousins and competitors were carcharodontosaurs.
Around 90 million years ago, U. uzbekistanensis existed in what is now Uzbekistan. It measured 26 feet (8 meters) and weighed 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms). In other words, it was twice the size and five times the weight of the ecosystem’s previously known apex predator, the tyrannosaur Timurlengia.
8. The dinosaur that wasn’t
A 99 million-year-old piece of amber from Myanmar (formerly Burma) with a mysterious creature’s skull preserved inside grabbed news when it was discovered. Scientists said it is the smallest dinosaur ever discovered. This bird-like dinosaur has 100 sharp and tiny teeth and weighed only 0.07 ounces (2 grams), which is the weight of two dollar bills.
However, after additional examination of other specimens of this species, it appears that it is a lizard rather than a dinosaur. As a result, the initial study became fake news.
Even so, the retracted study’s researchers are nevertheless pleased to celebrate this strange beastie. “It’s just a really weird animal and an important discovery, whether it’s a weird bird or a weird lizard with a bird head,” study co-lead researcher Jingmai O’Connor, who is now at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and was formerly a senior professor of vertebrate paleontology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Live Science in July.
9. Fuzzy Dinosaur From Brazil Stirs Ethics Debate
Late in 2020, an international team of paleontologists described Ubirajara jubatus, a strange new dinosaur from Brazil. It is stored in a German museum. This feathered dinosaur is the first to be discovered with ribbon-like protofeathers sprouting from its shoulders. The bigger question is how a fossil from Brazil ended up in Germany, far from the dinosaur’s home country.
There are contradictory reports of how the fossil was exported from Brazil, which may have been unlawful. A social media campaign called #UbirajaraBelongstoBR has put pressure on the State Museum of Natural History Karlsruhe to repatriate the fossil. The museum has declined, and the decision has heightened the current discussion and arguments about colonialism in the country.
10. Soft-shelled eggs
According to a study published in the magazine Nature in June, the first dinosaur eggs may have possessed flexible shells. Researchers discovered ancient eggs from two dinosaur species: the horned dinosaur Protoceratops from the Cretaceous period and the long-necked sauropodomorph Mussaurus from the Triassic period.
Another group of scientists in Antarctica discovered a 68 million-year-old soft-shell egg of a mosasaur, which is not a dinosaur but a reptile sea monster that lived during the dinosaur era, in separate Nature research.
It’s unclear if this football-sized mosasaur egg was placed in water or on dry land like a turtle.
11. Horned Titanosaur Embryo
An August study published in the journal Current Biology reported a rare titanosaur embryo. It was discovered in Argentina. It had a rhino-like horn on its snout, which it lost by adulthood.
There is currently no information available regarding whether or not the baby’s huge parents. Though its horn was cute 80 million years ago, at least the horn was functional—possibly it’s the infant who used it to peck itself out of its shell.
12. Some dinosaurs, but not T. rex, were extremely fast
According to an investigation of two dinosaur trackways in northern Spain, meat-eating dinosaurs raced at over 28 mph (45 km/h). A December study published in the journal Scientific Reports discovered the trackways left behind by two different carnivorous individuals racing in a squishy lake bed during the early Cretaceous. The study suggests that these monsters were roughly as fast as Usain Bolt, the fastest human on record, who momentarily achieved 27.5 mph (44.3 km/h) during a race in 2009.
According to a separate study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science in April, T. rex, the most famous carnivore of them all, was a slowpoke, with a preferred walking speed of slightly under 3 mph (5 km/h). That’s around the typical person’s walking speed.
Does the dinosaur king find this embarrassing? Yes. But T. rex did have sharpened, banana-sized teeth and one of the strongest biting forces ever recorded, so we wouldn’t laugh in its face or anything (unless we were walking away at a brisk clip).
13. Dino Died sheltering eggs
A unique finding has been made of an ostrich-like dinosaur that perished while brooding over a clutch of eggs. It is the only known nonavian dinosaur specimen discovered sitting on top of embryonic eggs. According to a study published in the journal Science Bulletin in May, this dinosaur, an oviraptorosaur, was likely incubating the eggs as it sat on them during the Cretaceous period in what is now China.
Seven of the 24 eggs still had petrified embryos. That’s not bad for 70 million-year-old eggs!
14. Baby Dinosaur Fossils in the Arctic
Paleontologists have known for decades that dinosaurs lived within the Arctic Circle, but whether those dinosaurs lasted all year has been a difficult topic to solve. A collection of embryonic and extremely young dinosaurs discovered on Alaska’s North Slope contributes to the resolution of the controversy.
Paleontologists have discovered tiny bones and teeth from embryonic and hatchling dinosaurs that lived in the Cretaceous Arctic, which would have had several months of cold and darkness each year. The discoveries show that dinosaurs were breeding and raising their young in this location, demonstrating how adaptable dinosaurs were too varied habitats and climates.
15. Best-preserved dino stomach
It’s difficult to know what herbivorous dinosaurs ate because leaves and other plant materials don’t fossilize well, and even if ancient organic matter is preserved, it’s difficult to tell if the dinosaur ate it or if the two fossilized side by side by chance.
The discovery of a nodosaur fossil with a well-preserved digestive tract has contributed to solving this mystery. According to a June study published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, researchers investigated the 112 million-year-old beast’s preserved stomach contents and discovered that the nodosaur, dubbed Borealopelta markmitchelli, was a finicky eater.
The 18-foot-long (5.5-meter) B. markmitchelli ate only specific types of ferns, and it appeared to prefer leaves to stems and twigs. The dinosaur’s intestines also contained pea- to grape-sized stones known as gastroliths, which likely assisted it in breaking down food.