“These animals were alive or after their death, when they were alive, they were quickly covered by silt,” said pascal Godfright, a paleontologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences.
The scientist said the impact would be similar to what happened in Pompeii. The new species was named Changmiania leonigenesis, according to the news release. Changmian means “eternal sleep” in Chinese.
Scientists deduced that the ornithopod was alive during the Cretaceous period and was a small herbivorous creature that could move very fast depending on the length of its tail and the length of its legs. It was about 1.2 meters (about 4 feet) long.
“Nevertheless, some skeletal characteristics suggest that Changmiania can dig burrows like rabbits today.”
“His neck and arms are very short but strong, his shoulder blades are characterized by a coarse spine and the top of his snout is shaped like a shovel.”
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