dubbing asian archaeologistA team of Chinese paleontologists say the newly discovered species is the earliest ornithischian dinosaur ever discovered in Asia.
asian archaeologist It lived in what is now southwest China during the early Jurassic period, about 193 million years ago.
This dinosaur was about 1 meter (3.3 ft) long and belonged to a group of plant-eating dinosaurs called. ornithischian.
“Ornithischians, a prominent clade of dinosaurs, diversified into various forms such as ancleosaurs, stegosaurs, hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, and pachycephalosaurs throughout the Mesozoic era,” said Yunnan University paleontologist. Shi Yao et al. said.
“Like other non-avian dinosaurs, they were threatened with extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period, but their early evolutionary history remains debated.”
“During the Early Jurassic, ornithischian fossils were abundant and diverse on the Gondwana supercontinent.”
“In contrast, the Laurasian ornithischian fossil record from this period is less diverse and consists primarily of armored dinosaurs.”
Almost complete left femur asian archaeologist It was discovered in the Shujing Formation, about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) north of Chongqing Central Park in Yubei District, Chongqing City, southwest China.
According to the research team, the new species shows compatibility with Gondwanan species. Eoccursor Parbus.
This discovery indicates that there was an early dispersal event of ornithischian dinosaurs from Gondwana to Laurasia, including East Asia, in the Early Jurassic period, independent of, and perhaps more than, the dispersal of armored dinosaurs. It seems that it is also early.
“The new phylogenetic topology proposed in the study suggests a more independent dispersal of ornithischian dinosaurs into East Asia during the Early Jurassic,” the researchers said.
“The close relationship between asian archaeologist and Eoccursor ParbusDespite their remote habitats, this suggests that they probably originated from Gondwana, then migrated north to Laurasia, and finally to East Asia during the Pliensbach period. . ”
“This timing could occur before the arrival of armored dinosaurs in the region.”
“Furthermore, this new topology hypothesizes the existence of a previously unrecognized cosmopolitan clade of early ornithischian dinosaurs, phylogenetically located between Heterodontosauridae and Thyleophora.”
“Nevertheless, due to its fragmentary nature, asian archaeologist Support for the holotype, this clade, remains tentative, awaiting further fossil discoveries. ”
of the team paper Published in this month's magazine iscience.
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X Yao others. New evidence of the oldest ornithischian dinosaur discovered in Asia. isciencepublished online on December 19, 2024. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.111641
Source: www.sci.news
