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  • New Species Of Dinosaur Discovered In Utah

    The fossil of a new dinosaur has been discovered in Utah and scientists have named the large creature the Nose King.

    The dinosaur was named for its large nose, and scientists are curious as to how the nose was used.

    Scientists say that the dinosaur was a herbivore and could have grown to be 30 feet tall and weigh as much as 8500 pounds. They believe it lived in swampy areas.

    Scientists are very excited about the discovery and believe it will help them learn more about the Cretaceous period, which is the time period that they believe the Nose King would have lived.

    “We had almost the entire skull, which was wonderful,” N.C. State researcher Terry Gates said. “But the preparation was very difficult. It took two years to dig the fossil out of the sandstone it was embedded in — it was like digging a dinosaur skull out of a concrete driveway.”

    “We’ve found other hadrosaurs from the same time period but located about 200 miles farther south that are adapted to a different environment,” Gates added. “This discovery gives us a geographic snapshot of the Cretaceous, and helps us place contemporary species in their correct time and place. Rhinorex also helps us further fill in the hadrosaur family tree.”

    Although scientists aren’t sure how the dinosaur used its large nose, there are several theories. Some believe the nose was used to attract mates and others believe it could have been used to show dominance and to fight.

    “Maybe the nose was used as a means of attracting mates, recognizing members of its species, or even as a large attachment for a plant-smashing beak, Gates said. “We are already sniffing out answers to these questions.”

    The dinosaur’s scientific name is Rhinorex condrupus, and it was a gentle giant of the duck-billed dino family, or hadrosaurs. These dinosaurs lived near estuaries and ate algae and aquatic plants.

  • Mini Longneck Dino Found in South America

    Mini Longneck Dino Found in South America

    A new longneck dinosaur has been discovered in South America. The dinosaur is much smaller than other longneck dinosaurs, but is a relative of Apatosaurus and Diplodocus. The dinosaur is the first longneck to ever be discovered in South America and is believed to have lived during the Cretaceous Period.

    Most longneck dinosaurs lived during the Jurassic period and had died out by the Cretaceous Period. The mini longneck would have also lived during the Jurassic Period and into the Cretaceous Period as well.

    One of the most unique things about the newly discovered dinosaur is that it was much smaller than its cousins. Most longneck dinosaurs or diplodocids were at least 65 feet long. The newly discovered longneck species would have only grown to be about 30 feet long and would have been much shorter than other diplodocids as well.

    “This may be the smallest of the diplodocids,” said study researcher Pablo Gallina, a paleontologist at the Universidad Maimonides in Buenos Aires.

    It took three trips to Patagonia in 2010, 2012 and 2013 for the team to excavate the entire dinosaur skeleton. The skeleton was not complete, but there was enough of it for researchers to determine that it was a new species of dinosaur.

    The dinosaur has been named Leinkupal laticauda. When the bones of the dinosaur were first discovered, the scientists were not sure if it was worth excavating because the bones have become so eroded. They were not able to find any other skeletons and decided to go ahead and excavate the bones anyways.

    Once the dinosaur was removed from the dirt, the scientists realized that they had found something special and became excited. They will continue to study the skeleton to learn more about the dinosaur and how it may have lived over 140 million years ago.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons