On the Isle of Wight, the remains of a dinosaur-tank, described 140 years ago, were found
Miscellaneous / / June 16, 2023
It is possible that he somehow survived the mass extinction.
Scientists from the UK have discovered the remains of the so-called tank dinosaur for the first time. The giant was described 140 years ago, but so far there has been no evidence of its existence. Study this was published in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
Fossils found on the British Isle of Wight. The dinosaur was named Vectipelta barretti and was assigned to the ankylosaur family.
In old descriptions, this species is compared with the more widespread Polacanthus foxii, which lived mainly in Europe. However, the new find shows differences in the neck and dorsal vertebrae, as well as a different pelvic structure. In addition, the spikes on the “armor” of Vectipelta barretti were sharper and even looked like blades.
Moreover, phylogenetic analysis showed that in fact there was no close relationship between these animals at all. As it turned out, the new species is much more closely related to some Chinese ankylosaurs.
As for the age of the remains, scientists believe that the discovered individual roamed Eurasia during the early Cretaceous period - about 145 million years ago.
Interestingly, fossils from this period are quite rare throughout the world, which is explained by mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic. If the age of the find is confirmed, then the new "armored car" can not only shed light on the diversity of dinosaurs of that time, but also help unravel the mystery of the restoration of the animal world.
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