(NLDO) - The new species Ardetosaurus viator belongs to the lineage of the longest monsters ever to walk the planet.
According to Sci-News, the fossilized bones of a mysterious beast excavated more than three decades ago from the Howe-Stephens Quarry in the Morrison Formation, Northern Wyoming (USA), have finally been successfully classified.
New monster species unearthed in the US - Graphic photo: Ole Zant
The research team led by paleontologist Tom van der Linden from the Oertijdmuseum (a natural history museum in the Netherlands) named it Ardetosaurus viator, a completely new species of salamander.
Diplodocoidea, or the superfamily Diplodocoidea, is a branch of the Sauropod dinosaur family, which includes some of the longest animals ever to walk the planet.
They have common characteristics such as long neck, long tail, plump, heavy body with 4 legs as big as temple pillars.
Compared to other Sauropods, the body of the Sauropod was somewhat "slimmer", with a very long neck and a very long tail.
This group is known from North and South America, Europe and Africa, living from 161 to 135 million years ago.
Among them, the monster that just appeared in America is about 150 million years old, living in the middle of the Jurassic period.
Ardetosaurus viator is also the first anatomically mature sauropod specimen described from the Howe-Stephens Quarry, where several of its relatives have also been discovered.
This specimen also shows some transitional features in the cervical-dorsal bones and caudal vertebrae, evidence that it was gradually evolving morphologically to better suit its environment.
It adds to the growing body of data showing how quickly and diversely the giant sauropod family evolved to become one of the most diverse dinosaur groups of the later Cretaceous period.
Research on the new beast has just been published in the scientific journal Palaeontologia Electronica.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/my-lo-dien-quai-thu-luong-long-chua-tung-biet-196241012104151818.htm
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