Image Credit: Lukas Panzarin / Andrea Cau
A new dinosaur, Halszkaraptor escuilliei, that had lived 75 million years ago in what is now Mongolia has recently been discovered. This is considered a rare anomaly in the paleontologist community.
The specimen walks similarly to a duck and resembles a penguin in its movement in water. It is difficult to categorize the organism in traditional classifications due to the numerous characteristics it possesses, making it seem to resemble a range of species.
Using synchrotron multi-resolution X-ray microtomography, Dr. Andrea Cau, a researcher at the Geological and Palaeontological Museum, and her team reconstructed a 3D model revealing immense details including preserved teeth that remained inside the mouth as well as neurovascular mesh inside the snout that resembled those of modern crocodiles to a remarkable degree.
In the end, the Halszkaraptor escuilliei is suspected to be an aquatic predator resembling dinosaurs, the Velociraptor in particular.
There is no doubt that the shock of this revolutionary discovery is felt throughout the scientific community. Dr. Andrea Cau has claimed, “The first time I examined the specimen, I even questioned whether it was a genuine fossil”.
Read more about this fascinating story at: www.sci-news.com
Or read the full study at: https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24679
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