Dinosaurs are once again under the spotlight after the new findings of paleontologists in Southern Mongolia. They have unearthed the fossils of natovenator polydontus, a newfound species of dinosaur that looks nothing like those we see in textbooks. The creature measured only about a foot long, and it looked like the kind of goose going berserk.
The peculiar creature lived about 71 million years ago, and it had swimming among its daily routines. Natovenator polydontus loved to dive into the water. Despite resembling a goose, the creature in question is considered a non-avian dinosaur. Convergent evolution is what likely led to the peculiar appearance of the dinosaur.
A scientist by the name of Young-Nam Lee, who’s both the lead author of the new study and also a paleontologist at Seoul National University, explained in an email for Gizmodo:
Finding semi-aquatic dinosaurs means that the ecological diversity was very high in dinosaurs,
More than 30 different lineages of tetrapods have independently invaded water ecosystems. Why not for dinosaurs?
The scientist stated as the same source quotes:
The angle between each rib shaft and its associated articulating vertebra is very low, like many diving birds, but in contrast to terrestrial theropods.
What’s for sure about the dinosaurs, in general, is that they couldn’t invent an asteroid defensive system. After dominating our planet for roughly 165 million years, dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago after the famous Chicxulub asteroid collided with Earth. But it’s fascinating that those huge and majestic creatures left behind an enormous legacy, which is why paleontologists learn so more about them even today. There were about 700 species of dinosaurs existing in our world, and their fossils have been found on all seven continents so far.
If you are willing to learn more about the new research, you must know that it appears in Communications Biology.
