Fábio Manucci (DR) / CNRS
Artist’s reconstruction of a juvenile dongi from Haolong from the Early Cretaceous of China (125 million years ago).
A new species of herbivorous dinosaur, which lived 125 million years ago and had spines comparable to those of a modern porcupine, has been discovered in China and is intriguing scientists.
The announcement of the discovery of the new “porcupine” dinosaur was made on Friday by the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
In , the CNRS stated that “until then, there was no evidence to prove the existence of such spines in dinosaurs” and explained that scientists named the new species ‘Haolong dongi’ in honor of Dong Zhiming, a pioneer of Chinese paleontology.
The investigation into the discovery was on Friday in the magazine Nature Ecology & Evolution.
A dExceptionally well-preserved fossilized skin discovered in China of a young man Cretaceous iguanodon led CNRS scientists and their international partners to use high-resolution X-ray tomography and histological sections.
The researchers were then able to observe skin cells preserved for 125 million years, which indicated the presence of hollow, horny spines on a large part of the body, comparable to those of modern porcupines in its defense function.
Study authors examine the Haolong dongi fossil at the Anhui Geological Museum in Hefei, China
These protuberances demonstrate a hitherto unknown evolutionary defense mechanism in iguanodontsa group of dinosaurs that, depending on the species, could measure between 6 and 10 meters in length and weigh several tons.
Researchers suggest that the spines played a role in thermoregulation (because they are hollow, they could have helped dissipate or absorb heat) or in sensory perception (to detect movements or changes in the environment).
“As the ‘Haolong dongi’ specimen is a juvenile, it is not yet known whether these spines were also present in adults,” the CNRS further noted.
