Paleontologists have unearthed a rare species of dinosaur; one with a beak like a parrot and a body the size of a small dog. The ‘Pegomastax’ was lodged in a rock that Paul C. Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago and a dinosaur specialist, dug up almost 30 years ago.
Tiny dinosaur had a tough look
While this mini-dino weighs less than an average housecat, Sereno believes it had a fierce look. With a strong jaw, self-sharpening teeth and spikes like a porcupine, paleontologists believe it was built as a “nimble two-legged porcupine.”
“I think the bristles would have made it look at least a little bigger than it was — perhaps they could poke out more strongly when excited,” he said.
“The main defense would be the speed of escape. These were very long-legged fast critters. They could inflict a nipping bite if cornered, using the fangs much like a peccary or fanged deer.”
A discovery decades in the making
Thirty years ago, when Sereno noticed this fossil in a hunk of rock, he knew he found something interesting.
“My eyes popped, as it was clear this was a distinct species,” he recalled.
“I’m embarrassed to say how many years ago that was — 1983,” he told the NY Times. “But I was an enterprising graduate student then at the American Museum of Natural History. All the while since then, I wondered if anyone else might spot the creature hiding among the lab drawers.”
Discovery will help explain evolution
Hans-Dieter Sues, a senior research geologist and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History, believes Pegomastax was a highly specialized plant-eating dinosaur and will help scientists understand the evolution of herbivores.
“Pegomastax belongs to a group of distinctive, small bird-hipped dinosaurs that appeared surprisingly early in the evolutionary history of dinosaurs,” Sues said. “It could help fill in some blanks in our evolutionary knowledge.”
