About 125 million years ago, two Dinosaurs Probably an underground burrow. The volcano erupted, drawing his last breath before being buried alive.
The ancient preserved fossils of these two-foot-long (1.1 m) reptiles looked so quiet that researchers named the newly discovered species. Changmiania leonigenesis, Which means “eternal sleeper from Lioning” in Chinese.
“It’s a temporary hypothesis that both Changmiania leonigenesis The researchers wrote in the study that, while resting, the specimens were suddenly trapped in a collapsing underground burrow, which explains their entire lifetime postures “and why their remains were not damaged by elements or by scavengers,” the researchers wrote in the study.
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Chinese farmers in the northeastern Chinese province of Liaoning have discovered two specimens that are now housed in the Paleontological Museum in Liaoning. An international team of paleontologists from China, Argentina and Belgium then worked to study the unique anatomy of the “Eternal Sleepers”.
It turned out in his analysis C. Leoningenesis There was an early ornithopod, a type of herbivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs, such as Iguanodon And hadros, or duck-bill dinosaurs. Judging by its powerful hind legs and long, stiff tail, it’s a good thing C. Leonigenesis He was a Swift runner, the researchers said.
Moreover, C. Leonigenesis Probably an expert borrower, which is unusual in dinosaurs but Not without example.
“Some of the characteristics of the skeleton suggest that Changmiania Like many, Burroughs can dig Rabbits Do it today, “Study Pascal Godfrey, Senior Paleontologist, Senior Researcher at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Said in a statement. “His neck and arms are very short but strong, his shoulder blades are characterized by full of scapulae and the top of his snout is shaped like a shovel.”
The Lugiatoon beds, where these fossils were found, are known for their extraordinary fossils – specimens of an ancient volcanic eruption, such as Cretaceous period Version of Pompeii (The Roman city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD AD, but was saved early). Other 3D fossils from this site provide evidence that there were some dinosaurs Dedicated parents, And it is the size of a once oposome in mammals Festive on small dinosaurs.
In both cases C. Leonigenesis Dinosaurs, “may be the hypothesis that contains burrows Changmiania Skeleton collapsed during debris flow episode; We can alternatively imagine that this Changmiania “Specimens dug their holes in volatile reactive volcanic bodies only after debris flowed,” the researchers wrote in the study. “That discovery, of course, remains pure speculation,” as the remains were excavated by farmers, not scientists. Details about the exact location were therefore not studied.
The researchers wrote in the study, however, that the lifeline posture of the terrifying dinosaur “indicates that animals began to live quickly whenever they were alive,” although it is possible that silt would cover them immediately after death, the researchers wrote in the study.
This C. Leonigenesis The remains reveal other clues about their lives. For example, unlike other dinosaurs that became immortal in the Lugiatoon bed – May long, That of a bird-like trodontid dinosaur Lying with his tail curved under his neck – C. Leoningenesis He fell asleep with his tail stretched out. That’s because the “eternal sleeper” had a “rather rigid” tail with limited flexibility, the researchers wrote in the study. “Turn his tail into one below his neck MaySuch a style was impossible for possibility Changmiania“
Another fossil key contains a cluster of dozens of small pebbles found next to the abdominal area C. Leonigenesis Individuals. The researchers said that these pebbles could be gastroliths or rocks that some animals swallow for the purpose of grinding food during digestion.
The study was published in the journal September 8 PeerJ.
Published on Original Living Science.
