In Australia, a dinosaur skull "with features" was found, which is almost 100 million years old
Scientists have studied an almost complete dinosaur skull found in Australia. It could belong to a Titanosaurus that lived in the territory of modern Australia for about 100 million years.
According to IFLScience, scientists named the find "Ann". And also - they discovered certain features on the skull of the dinosaur, which was previously not noticed in other similar specimens.
The publication writes that titanosaurs, or sauropod dinosaurs, lived during the Cretaceous period in almost all corners of the world. Despite their global distribution and abundance, few species are well preserved with more than one specimen found in the fossil record, and even fewer have been found with skull fragments.
The current find - the skull of Diamantinasaurus matildae - is already the fourth of its kind in Australia. It bears some striking similarities to another dinosaur species, Sarmientosaurus Musacchio I, from Argentina. Small cone-shaped teeth, similar to a chisel, have been preserved on the skull.
"This skull gives us a rare insight into the anatomy of this huge sauropod that lived in northeastern Australia almost 100 million years ago. Our research shows that Diamantinasaurus was one of the most primitive titanosaurs. A better understanding of this species may explain why titanosaurs were so successful in many countries of the world until the end of the age of dinosaurs," commented Stephen Poropat, a leading researcher and paleontologist from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Researchers believe that these bones support the theory that there was a land bridge between Australia and South America that connected the continents via Antarctica.
"We suggest that sauropods traveled between Australia and South America via Antarctica in the mid-Cretaceous period. Warmer conditions further south may have been favorable for them," Dr. Poropat said.
It will be recalled that the complete skeleton of the most famous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex was put up for auction in Switzerland.
If you want to receive the latest news about the war and events in Ukraine, subscribe to our Telegram channel!