Raleigh, North Carolina Scientists in North Carolina have unearthed a 100-million-year-old dinosaur that they believe lived in burrows like an armadillo and ate grass like a deer.
The new dinosaur, Phona herzogae, lived 99 million years ago in what is now Utah, a vast floodplain ecosystem sandwiched between a huge inland sea to the east and active volcanoes and mountains to the west. It was a warm, wet, muddy environment cut by numerous rivers.
Paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences have been excavating this fossil and other specimens of the same species since 2013. Phona was described as a 7-foot-long, burrowing, herbivorous dinosaur.
Evidence suggests that the newly discovered species spent at least some of its time in underground burrows.
“That’s incredibly rare.” Abraham said:This has been identified as a behavior only seen in one closely related species.”
Abraham First author of the paper Fona said scientists Several reasons, including the shape of the bones, especially the sturdy hind legs, convinced them that this dinosaur was a burrowing dinosaur.
“Its feet were unusually large for the size of its body and would have helped it kick dirt out of the nest.” Abrahami said.
Abraham The researchers said there is still a lot to learn from this tiny dinosaur, as animals this small are relatively rare in the fossil record.
“Fonna It’s part of a group of dinosaurs about which very little is known.” Abraham said:It’s like one of the biggest black holes in paleontology.”
The Natural Science Museum told WRAL News that it has the actual skeleton, a 3D printed model of the skull and scientific illustrations of what it would look like once fleshed out. Fona The skeleton will be on display at the museum, located at 11 W. Jones St., where visitors can watch as paleontologists continue their research.
The genus name Fona comes from a creation story of the Chamorro ancestors, the indigenous people of Guam and the Mariana Islands in the Pacific. Fona and Pontan were brother and sister explorers who discovered the island and created the land and sky. The species name honors Lisa Herzog, Manager of Paleontology Operations at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, for her outstanding contributions and dedication to the field of paleontology.
“I wanted to pay homage to the indigenous mythology of Guam, where my Chamorro ancestors are from,” Abrahami said. “In the myth, when the Fona died, they became part of the land and new life sprang from their body. To me, this ties into fossilization, beauty and creation. The Fona would have been covered in fluffy fur with colorful feathers. The species is named after Lisa Hertzog, who was essential to this study and discovered the rarest Fona specimen, consisting of several individuals preserved together in what is believed to have been a burrow.”
