Paleontologists have spotted miniature duck-billed dragons in the Mongolian Gobi
Duckbillosaurus was the most common plant-eating dinosaur of the Cretaceous Period, and the largest duck-billed dinosaur was found in Shandong, China, with a body length of more than 15 meters and a weight of more than 10 tons. In fact, in the duck-billed dragon family, there are not only large and large men, but also some small little ones, including the newly discovered Gobi duck dragon.
There are dragons from Mongolia
Located in central Asia, Mongolia is rich in paleontological fossils, and paleontologists from many countries are attracted to this treasure trove of fossils. From 1993 to 2004, paleontologists at the Mongolian Paleontology Center and researchers from the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences in Japan conducted long-term excavations in Bayshin Tsav, southern Mongolia. During the excavations, paleontologists discovered a fossil of a platypus-like dinosaur located on the substrate, which paleontologist Tsogtbaatar first described in 2008.
Image note: Skull fossil from the Mongolian duckbillosaurs, image from the Internet
Fast forward to 2019, when paleontologists published an article in PLoS ONE titled "A new hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous Baynshire Formation of the Gobi Desert ( Mongolia) paper, named Gobihadros
The genus names of Gobi duck dragons come from "Gobi" (meaning "Gobi Desert") and "hadros" (meaning "duck-billed dragon"), and its model species name is Mongolian Gobihadros mongoliensis, and the type name represents that the fossil was found in Mongolia.
Pocket duckling
Image note: The body size of the Gobi duck dragon and the cat is compared, the picture is from the network
Illustration: Compared with the size of the 4-meter-long Tethys duck-billed dragon compared to the human body size, the Gobi duck-billed dragon is smaller, and the image comes from the Internet
Gobi duck-like dinosaurs were a very small duck-billed dinosaur with a body length of less than 3 meters and a weight of about 300 kilograms, not much larger than a small donkey.
Like other platypus dinosaurs, gobi ducks had a smaller head, a flattened front of their mouth, and teeth in the cheeks. Gobi duck dragons are able to chew plants and can play a role in rough processing food. The Gobi duck dragon had a shorter neck and a thick body and a long tail behind the neck.
Illustration: Skeletal line diagram of the Gobi duck dragon, picture from the network
Gobi duck dragons had strong limbs, and their hind limbs were longer and thicker than their forelimbs. In terms of the proportion of limbs, gobi duck dragons were able to walk on both fours and on both feet on the hind limbs. In fact, from the appearance point of view, the Gobi duck dragon has typical duck-billed dragon characteristics, but it also has some iguanodon characteristics, indicating that it belongs to the basal position of the duck-billed dragon.
Proof of invasion of North America
Fossils of Gobi ducks are derived from the Bayn shire Formation, geologically equivalent to the Late Cretaceous period, between 98 million and 83 million years ago. In addition to Gobi duck dragons, paleontologists have also found Alectrosaurus, Achillobator, Erlikosaurus, Slow Dragons, etc. belonging to the Theropod dinosaurs in the Banshira Formation formation; Graciliceratops and Microceratus belonging to the horned dragons. Maleevus and Talarurus, which belonged to the ankylosaurus, and Amtosaurus, which belonged to the same duckbiosaurus as the Gobi duck-billed dragon.
Picture note: Dulong, picture from the network
Image note: Slow Dragon, picture from the network
Picture note: Yajiaolong, picture from the network
Judging from the fossil discoveries, the World in which Gobi Duck Dragon lived had ferocious dragons and Achilles dragons, who could easily kill Gobi Duck Dragons, so Gobi Duck Dragons had to form groups to protect each other. Characteristically , the Gobi duck dragon is closer to the more recently emerging Bactrosaurus and Gilmoreosaurus , both of which belong to the basal duck-billed dragons.
Photo note: Flocks of duck-billed dragons, pictured from the Web
Illustration: Bucklon's skeleton, picture from the internet
Research on Gobi ducks not only shows us a small duck-billed dragon that lived in the Late Cretaceous, but also explores the radiation and diffusion of duck-billed dragons between Asia and North America. Paleontologists speculate that the Asian platypus superfamily, represented by Gobi ducklings, were later replaced by duck-billed dinosaurs from North America, and they lost the competition, although this view needs to be supported by more fossils.
Resources:
Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar; David B. Weishampel; David C. Evans; Mahito Watabe (2019). "A new hadrosauroid (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Late Cretaceous Baynshire Formation of the Gobi Desert (Mongolia)". PLoS ONE. 14 (4): e0208480. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0208480. PMID 30995236.
Image / Network (Intrusion and Deletion)
Text / Paleontological Exploration (Jiang Hong)
Typography / Paleontological exploration