Fossils of ankylosaurs found in Canada reveal the secrets of dinosaur invisibility
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Caption: Fossils of the Northern ShieldOsaurus on display in the museum, image from Wikipedia
Remember the unusually well-preserved fossil of a haplopoda found in Canada some time ago? Although the fossil itself is incomplete, the preserved parts include spines on the back, the skeleton, and even the tendons inside the body, stomach contents, and so on. Although the fossil has become the most famous fossil of 2017, it has no name. Recently, paleontologists published research papers on fossils, and this dinosaur not only had a name, but also the ability to "stealth".
Image note: Complete fossil of Northern ShieldOsaurus, image from the internet
In March 2011, the remains of a dinosaur were found in Albert, Canada, and after excavation and restoration, we got a shocking dinosaur fossil that was very complete as if it had been preserved in a time capsule. Research papers have not yet been published, and fossil photos and simple photos of this dinosaur have spread across the Internet, but the dinosaur that everyone is talking about has no name.
In early August 2017, paleontologists published an article titled "An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous." Predator-Prey Dynamics) paper, which officially named Borealopelta.
The genus name of the Northern Shield Dragon comes from the Latin word "borealis" (meaning "north, north") and the Greek word for "pelta" (meaning "shield"), and the genus name comes from the fact that it was found in the north and had defensive armor on its body. The model species of the Northern Shield Dragon was named Borealopelta Markmitchelli, and the model species name "Markmitchelli" was dedicated to Mark Mitchell, who spent 7,000 hours as a fossil restoration technician to completely restore the fossils of the Northern Shield Dragon from the rocks.
Picture note: Michelle, who is restoring the fossil of the northern shield dragon, picture from the Internet
The northern shieldosaurs, with their carapaceous and spines on their bodies, belonged taxonomically to the subfamily nodosaurs under the ankylosaur family , and were cousins of the famous ankylosaurs. Adult northern shields can reach 5.5 meters in length, 1.7 meters in height at the hips, and weigh about 1.5 tons. As an armored dinosaur, the Northern ShieldOsaurus can be said to have armed its eyes, the bones of its small head were hardened and strengthened, the sides of the eyes grew bony ridges, and the neck and shoulders also had protective spines. On the back and tail of the northern shield dragon there are regularly arranged small bone pieces, and there are similar bone pieces on the limbs. Although it belongs to the ankylosaur family in the large classification, the northern shield dragon does not have a bone hammer on its tail, so it mainly uses passive defense to protect itself.
Image note: Skeletal line diagram of the Northern Shield Dragon, picture from the network
Illustration: Restoration of the Northern Shield Dragon by Julius Stoney
Fossils of the Northern Shield Dragon contain not only details about its appearance and internal structure, but also color information. By studying the tiny scales preserved in the fossils, paleontologists successfully restored the body color of the northern shieldosaurus, which showed a reddish color on its back and a lighter color on its abdomen. In the research paper, paleontologists specifically analyzed the body color of the northern shield and believed that it had the function of "stealth". When the light shines on the animal from top to bottom, its back will become bright due to the reflection of light, and the abdomen will be much lighter because it avoids most of the light, so the animal of the single body color is easy to find. If an animal is large enough to empty one's eyes, then there is no problem in adopting a single body color, just like today's elephants, rhinos and hippos. If the body size is not large enough to make yourself safe, then the dark back color and the light color of the abdomen are easy to hide yourself in the big environment, which is the so-called "anti-shade".
Illustration: Comparison of northern shields and animals today in terms of body color concealment, picture from the paper
Illustration: The observation angle of the prey of the large carnivorous dinosaur, the picture comes from the network
Does the armor-clad Northern Shield Dragon still need to be hidden? The answer is yes. Among the dinosaurs that lived with the Northern ShieldOsaurus were probably the terrifying High Spinosaurus, a large guy with a body length of more than 11 meters and a weight of more than 6 tons who was able to easily kill the Northern Shield Dragon. In order to avoid danger, but also to survive, the Northern Shield Dragon learned the "stealth technique".
Picture note: The Northern Shield Dragon lived in a dangerous world, and the picture comes from the Internet
Resources:
Brown, C.M.; Henderson, D.M.; Vinther, J.; Fletcher, I.; Sistiaga, A.; Herrera, J.; Summons, R.E. "An Exceptionally Preserved Three-Dimensional Armored Dinosaur Reveals Insights into Coloration and Cretaceous Predator-Prey Dynamics". Current Biology. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071.