"The 100-million-year-old carnivorous machine"

(NLĐO) - Paleontologists have made an "unbelievable" discovery of an unidentified species belonging to the Furileusauria family of carnivorous monsters.

According to Sci-News, the newly unearthed creature in the Normandy region of France has been named Caletodraco cotardi.

It was a member of Furileusauria, a subgroup of Abelisauridae dinosaurs that appeared in the mid-Jurassic period and flourished throughout the Cretaceous period.

But the appearance of this creature in France is completely illogical.

One specimen is a tooth of Caletodraco cottardi, and the graphic depicts a portrait of the dinosaur from the Abelisauridae group - Photo: Eric Buffetaut; AI illustration: Anh Thư

According to paleontological evidence to date, the entire Abelisauridae group of dinosaurs – ferocious, medium- to large-sized predators – were inhabitants of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.

Gondwana was one of the two main supercontinents formed from the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea. It comprised landmasses that today make up South America, Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Therefore, this group of dinosaurs should not have been found in present-day Europe. Previously, species belonging to the Furileusauria subgroup were only found in South America.

However, there is still a clue: A different subgroup of Abelisauridae was discovered in southern France in 1988. They were also found in the Cretaceous period in several European countries, including France, Spain, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

Thus, it is quite possible that, somehow, the Furileusauria subgroup actually existed on both sides of the ocean during that period.

Returning to the fascinating creature that helped identify the new species, two fossilized skeletons were found at the foot of a coastal cliff at Saint-Jouin-Bruneval on the Pays de Caux coast, in the Seine-Maritime department of Normandy.

A research team led by Dr. Eric Buffetaut from the University of PSL (France) analyzed and identified the new species.

It is believed to have lived around 100 million years ago – during the mid-Cretaceous period – in the Armorican Mountains, about 100 km southwest of the fossil site.

It is possible that the remains or bones of the dinosaur were carried by a stream to the area where paleontologists found them, which is part of an ancient seabed.

Given the specimen's age, Caletodraco cottardi is representative of a period when Abelisauridae flourished. At the same time, it shows that this lineage was more diverse, had a wider distribution range, and was far more complex than previously thought.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/lo-dien-sinh-vat-la-o-phap-co-may-an-thit-100-trieu-tuoi-196240829113852686.htm