Scientists have discovered an unusual new species of dinosaur that lived underground

The discovery of the Norwegian dinosaur, Fona herzogae, from pol.Chalky period reveals a complex ecosystem with dinosaurs occupying underground niches. This underscores the diversity and ecological adaptability of dinosaurs and expands our understanding of their roles in ancient environments.

The Age of Dinosaurs was not only conducted above ground. Newly discovered ancestor Thescelosaurus reveals that these animals spent some of their time in underground burrows. This new one species it contributes to our understanding of life during the Middle Cretaceous, both above and below ground.

new dinosaur, Phone [/Foat’NAH/] Dukes lived 99 million years ago in what is now Utah. At the time, the area was a large floodplain ecosystem sandwiched between the shores of a mighty inland ocean to the east and active volcanoes and mountains to the west. It was a warm, humid, muddy environment with numerous rivers flowing through it.

Paleontologists from North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences discovered the fossil—and other specimens of the same species—in the Mussentuchit Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, beginning in 2013. The preservation of these fossils, along with some distinctive features, alerted them to the possibility of burrowing.

Physical characteristics and evidence of burrowing

Phone was a small-bodied, plant-eating dinosaur about the size of a large dog with a simple body plan. It lacks the bells and whistles that characterize its highly decorated relatives such as horned dinosaurs, armored dinosaurs, and crested dinosaurs. But that doesn’t mean Phone it was boring.

Phone it shares several anatomical features with animals known for digging or burrowing, such as large biceps muscles, strong muscle attachment points on the hips and legs, fused bones along the pelvis—probably helping with stability when digging—and hind limbs that are proportionally larger than forelimbs extremities. But this is not the only evidence that this animal spent time underground.

“The bias in the fossil record is toward larger animals, primarily because in floodplain environments like the Mussentuchit, small bones at the surface are often dispersed, rotted, or enthralled before burial and fossilization,” says Haviv Avrahami, Ph.D. . student at NC State and a digital technician for the new Dueling Dinosaurs program at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Avrahami is the first author of the article describing the work.

“But Phone it is often found complete, with many of its bones preserved in its original death position, chest down with its forelimbs extended, and in exceptionally good condition,” says Avrahami. “If it had been underground in a burrow before death, this type of preservation would be more likely.

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

“Phone skeletons are much more common in this area than we would predict for a small animal with fragile bones,” says Zanno. “The best explanation for why we find so many of them and get them in small bundles of multiple individuals is that they lived at least part of the time underground.” Fona basically did the hard work for us by digging in all over that area.”

Although researchers have yet to identify the underground burrows Phonethe tunnels and chamber of his nearest relative, Oryctodromeus, have been found in Idaho and Montana. These findings support the idea that Phone they also used burrows.

Cultural and scientific significance of Fona

Family name Phone it comes from the ancestral creation story of the Chamorro people, who are the original inhabitants of Guam and the Pacific Marianas. Fo’na and Pontan were brother and sister explorers who discovered the island and became earth and sky. The species name honors Lisa Herzog, Manager 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 come from,” says Avrahami. “In myth, Fo’na became part of the earth when she died, and from her body came new life, which for me is associated with fossilization, beauty and creation. Phone it was most likely covered in fluff of colored feathers. The species name is for Lisa Herzog, who was an integral part of this entire work and discovered one of the most exceptional Phone specimens of several individuals preserved together in what is probably a burrow.”

Phone is also a distant relative of another famous North Carolina fossil: Willo, a Thescelosaurus lackus specimen currently housed in a museum is also believed to have adaptations for a semifossorial – or semi-subterranean – lifestyle, research published in late 2023 by Zanno and former NC State postdoctoral researcher David Button.

“T. neglect was at the end of that line— Phone is its ancestor from about 35 million years ago,” says Avrahami.

Scientists believe Phone is key to expanding our understanding of Cretaceous ecosystems.

“Phone it gives us a glimpse into the third dimension that an animal can occupy by moving underground,” says Avrahami. “It adds to the richness of the fossil record and expands the known diversity of small-bodied herbivores that remain poorly understood despite being an incredibly integral part of Cretaceous ecosystems.”

“People tend to have a myopic view of dinosaurs that doesn’t keep up with the science,” Zanno says. “We now know that dinosaur diversity spans from small arboreal gliders and nocturnal hunters to grazer-like sloths and, yes, even underground denizens.”

Reference: “A new semifossorial thescelosaurian dinosaur from the Cenomanian-age Mussentuchite Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah” by Haviv M. Avrahami, Peter J. Makovicky, Ryan T. Tucker, and Lindsay E. Zanno, July 9, 2024. Anatomical record.
DOI: 10.1002/ar.25505