New species of dinosaur that lived in burrows

9 Jul. () –

A newly discovered ancestor of Thescelosaurus shows evidence that these animals passed at least part of their time in underground burrows.

The new species contributes to a more complete understanding of life during the middle Cretaceous, both above and below ground.

The new dinosaur, Fona herzogae, lived 99 million years ago in what is now Utah. At the time, the area was a large alluvial plain ecosystem sandwiched between the shores of a huge inland ocean to the east and active volcanoes and mountains to the west. It was a warm, humid, muddy environment with numerous rivers running through it.

Paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences unearthed the fossil (and other specimens of the same species) in the Cedar Mountain Formation in early 2013. The preservation of these fossils, along with some distinctive features, He warned them about the possibility of digging.

Fona was a small-bodied herbivorous dinosaur, about the size of a large dog, with a simple body plan. It lacks the features that characterize its highly ornamented relatives, such as horned dinosaurs, armored dinosaurs, and crested dinosaurs.

BIG BICEPS

Fona shares several anatomical features with animals known to dig or burrow, such as large muscles in the biceps, strong muscle attachment points at the hips and legs, fused bones along the pelvis (likely to help with stability while digging), and hind limbs that are proportionally larger than the front limbs. But that’s not the only evidence that this animal spent time underground.

“The fossil record is biased toward larger animals, primarily because in floodplain environments like the Mussentuchit, small bones on the surface are often scattered, rotted away, or scavenged prior to burial and fossilization,” he says. it’s a statement Haviv Avrahami, a PhD student at NC State and digital technician for the new Dueling Dinosaurs program at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Avrahami is the first author of the paper describing the work now published in The Anatomical Record.

“But Fona is often found complete, with many of its bones preserved in the original death pose, chest down with the forelimbs spread out, and in exceptionally good condition,” Avrahami says. “If it had already been underground in a burrow before it died, would have made this type of preservation more likely.”

Lindsay Zanno, a research associate professor at NC State, director of paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and corresponding author on the paper, agrees.

“Fona skeletons are much more common in this area than we would predict for a small animal with fragile bones,” Zanno says. “The best explanation for why we found so many of them and recovered them in small groups of several individuals is that they lived at least part of the time underground. Basically, Fona did the hard work for us, burying herself all over this area.”

Although researchers have not yet identified Fona’s underground burrows, the tunnels and chamber of its closest relative, Oryctodromeus, have been found in Idaho and Montana. These findings support the idea that Fona also used burrows.

The name of the genus Fona comes from the ancestral creation story of the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous populations of Guam and the Mariana Islands of the Pacific. Fo’na and Pontan were explorer brothers who discovered the island and became the earth and the sky.

The species name honors Lisa Herzog, director of paleontology operations at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, for her invaluable contributions and dedication to the field of paleontology.

“I wanted to honor the indigenous mythology of Guam, where my Chamorro ancestors are from,” Avrahami says. “In the myth, Fo’na became part of the earth when she died, and new life emerged from her body, which to me relates to fossilization, beauty and creation. Fona was most likely covered in a soft coat of colorful feathers.

“The species name is for Lisa Herzog, who has been instrumental in all this work and discovered one of the most exceptional Fona specimens of several individuals preserved together in what was likely a burrow.”