Dinosaur Top Trumps requires an upgrade since there are fresh challengers in the game. Early Cretaceous scene.
Scientists have identified two new species within a 125-million-year-old fossil. China .
Although they would be easily eliminated by a T-Rex card, they'd still receive quite a deadly ranking if you happened to be a rodent or a tiny reptile.
The newly discovered dinosaurs, akin to the small predator Compsognathus, have been referred to as Sinosauropteryx lingyuanensis and Huadanosaurus sinensis .
Professor Paul Barrett, a paleontologist from the UK’s Natural History Museum, stated 'They would have been fairly small and quick creatures, featuring narrow heads filled with tiny, sharp teeth, a lengthy elegant neck, two rather long limbs ending in three-clawed hands designed for catching food, along with a slender balancing tail.'
'It’s probable that both of them were coated with hair-like feathers.'
It’s quite common to discover a new species of dinosaur; he reckons roughly one is identified each week globally, either through newly excavated specimens or past findings reconsidered with modern perspectives.
These fossilized remains, discovered within the Yixian strata, were indeed recognized approximately two decades ago; however, it was not until recently that an examination uncovered fresh insights into these prehistoric reptiles.
We can also observe what one of them preferred for lunch, since remnants of two mouse-like animals are visible in its stomach.
Professor Barrett stated: "Although we sometimes find stomach contents in dinosaurs, which is rather uncommon, this instance provides clear evidence of what that creature consumed just before its demise."
This holds particular importance because it represents the initial fossil evidence of dinosaurs hunting mammals within the Jehol Biota ecosystem in northeast China, an area renowned for its exceptionally preserved dinosaur remains.
The monikers assigned to the dinosaurs are based on where they were found. If we break this down, sinosauropteryx lingyuanensis refers to 'the Chinese reptile wing' and was found close to the city of Lingyuan.
Huadanosaurus, which is an entirely new classification, means somethng along the lines of ‘Great Anniversary Lizard’.
In the National Science Review, researchers said The title marks the 75th anniversary of both the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Both of these tiny meat-eating dinosaurs likely feasted on animals such as mice, frogs, salamanders, and perhaps even young dinosaur species.
Lead study author Qiu Rui told China Daily : ‘ Huadanosaurus possessed sturdy jaws and potent neck muscles, indicating it was capable of quickly dispatching prey using its formidable biting strength, which allowed it to effectively hunt mammals.'
It is thought that dinosaurs acquired various traits because of moving tectonic plates, which led to the formation of separate regions where dinosaurs developed distinct characteristics.
These two new arrivals on the dinosaur stage would have been wandering the Earth during roughly the same period as Iguanodon, Supersaurus, and Microraptor.
The area where these specimens were discovered is also where the initial proof of certain dinosaurs possessing feathers was unearthed in 1995.
'It is among the most abundant sources of fossils, particularly for those tiny carnivorous dinosaurs,' stated Professor Barrett.
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