Matte dempiScientists have discovered a bizarre armored dinosaur, with spikes sticking out of the neck.
The species is called SpicomelaserLiving 165 million years ago, and the oldest example of a group of armored dinosaurs is called ankylosaurus.
The detailed animal found in Morocco has come as a blow for experts, which will now have to reconsider how these armored dinosaurs have developed.
Professor Richard Butler of Birmingham University, who co-existed research, told BBC News that it was a “punk rker” of his time.
Punk Rock is a sub-culture and music style that first emerged in the 1970s. These followers often have pointed hair and accessories.
Professor Butler said, “This is one of the most strange dinosaurs ever.”
Professor Butler’s project co-leader, Professor Susanaah Madment, Natural History Museum, said it was surprising that the spikes were fused directly on the bone.
“We don’t see that in another animal, living or extinct,” he said.
He said, “It is really strange spikes and protrusions, including a bony collar, wrapped around its neck and wraps some kind of weapon at the end of its tail, so the most unusual dinosaur,” he said.
This discovery is so unusual that both professors are considering whether the discovery can force the reconsideration of those principles how ankylosaurus have developed.
Getty/Matt DempiThese animals survived late when dinosaurs were on earth, known as Creteshius in a period. It was 145 to 66 million years ago.
At the end of this period, the emergence of large carnivorous predators, such as T. Rex, was thought that Ankilosaurus started with a simple small armored plates on its back, which then became larger and greater to protect themselves from these big animals according to Professor Butler.
“If you had asked me, I would have expected the oldest known Ankilosaur, as if I would have said something with a very simple armor,” he told BBC News.
“Instead, we have an animal with spikes like a hedgehog, the most bizarre armor we have ever found in any animal, later outside the boundary of the armor seen in the ankylosor.”
Researchers do not have enough skeletons to ensure the ratio of the animal, but they estimate that it would be about four meters long and one meter high, weighing about two tons.
GettyThis discovery increases the possibility that Ankilosaurus started with a wide armor in the earlier dinosaur period, known as Jurassic, which, according to the professor, developed over millions of years to become more simple and possibly more functional.
“What we are guessing is that perhaps these structures were actually used for performance, and it was only later in Creteshius, when we begin to see giant dinosaurs with huge jaws and crushed bite, that they actually needed to co-oppt these performance structures as a body armor.”
NHM trusteesThe discovery was made by a local farmer who is now the city of Morocco Boulemen. It was the first Ankilosor to be found on the African continent. Professor Butler recalls the moment when he first saw fossils.
“This was the moment of a jaw, the spine of the spine, perhaps the most exciting in my career. It was immediately clear that this animal was much strange than what we had imagined and we had enough to make an understanding of it,” he said.
Professor Dris Ourhache, who led Morocco’s team involved in research from Universal Sidi Mohammad Ben Abdella, said: “This study is helping to pursue Moroccan’s science.
Has been research Published in journal nature,
See the story of excavation with natural History Museum
