A team of researchers coordinated by geologist and anatomical scientist Andrew Farke of the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in California has identified the first species of North American horned dinosaur , from the Lower Cretaceous.
According to these scientists in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, it lived between 109 and 104 million years ago and it was a relatively small animal: its skull, found in Montana, was 84.2 millimeters long and its size was similar to that of a raven.
The authors of the trial have named this neoceratopsian, the first fully defined that is known in this part of the world, Aquilops americanus . In addition, they point out that it presents certain anatomical characteristics similar to those of other similar species discovered in Asia, such as a bony structure in its snout similar to a beak, and elongated cavities in the cheeks.
Until now, the scarce fossil record of American neocerotopsians had not allowed us to adequately reconstruct their evolution and biogeography, that is, the processes that explain their distribution. The findings of Farke and his collaborators suggest that between 113 and 105 million years ago there must have been a migratory process between Asia and North America.
“ The Aquilops existed almost 20 million years before the next fully identified horned dinosaur in North America . Still, we were surprised that it was more closely related to its Asian relatives than it was to other New World animals, ”says Farke.
Foto: Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
