A discovery in Morocco has stunned scientists. Researchers found the fossilized remains of a duck-billed dinosaur that weighed about 250 kg and was three to 4 meters long. Also known as a hadrosaur, it originated in North America between 66 million and 100 million years ago and migrated to Europe and Asia when the continents were connected.
However, after the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea, Africa remained “an island continent floating alone in the ocean, like modern-day Australia”, so this species should not have been able to reach it.
- A New Giant Anaconda Species Discovered in the Amazon!
- Fingerprint Security at Risk: Touch Screen Sound Can Steal Your Fingerprint!
According to the study, this suggests that “duck-billed dinosaurs that evolved long after land connections were severed somehow managed to reach Africa”, perhaps by swimming.
Dr. Nicholas Longrich, from the University of Bath and co-author of the report, told The Times:
“The anatomy of the new duckbill is very similar to European species, suggesting that duckbills settled in North Africa by swimming or gliding several hundred kilometers offshore. It is highly improbable that dinosaurs crossed the waters to reach Africa, but improbable is not the same as impossible. And given enough time, the improbable becomes probable.”
Dr. Longrich added that the duck-billed dinosaur could be the most surprising discovery of his career:
“If you asked me what kind of dinosaurs we might find in Africa, the duck-billed dinosaur would be the last thing I would think of, let alone three species.”
The discovery follows the discovery that a distant cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex was hiding in plain sight after years on display in a museum. The creature, known as Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis, was mistakenly displayed as a T-rex in a museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, until scientists re-examined the fossils.
This dinosaur is thought to have originated in South America and migrated to what is now Montana, Wyoming and Canada around 67 million years ago. Here, Tyrannosaurus grew to its monstrous size of about 12 meters, or the equivalent of a double-decker bus, according to researchers from the University of Bath.
source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news
