May 06, 2005

New dinosaur species unearthed

Fossil remains of a dinosaur uncovered two years ago at a dig site in Utah offer rare evidence of a species undergoing a dietary transition 125 million years ago reports New York Times. The new species Falcarius utahensis meaning ''sickle-maker" features characteristics that suggest the dinosaur was becoming more vegetarian, moving away from its meat-eating ancestors. Falcarius utahensis was a primitive member of the therizinosaur group of feathered dinosaurs. Until now, therizinosauroids have been found almost exclusively in China.

Dr. Mark A. Norell, a dinosaur specialist at the American Museum of Natural History who was not involved in the research, said the fossils were well preserved and the teeth appeared to be similar to those of plant-eating dinosaurs. Falcarius utahensis has a slightly widened pelvis which would have been necessary to accommodate the longer gut needed to extract nutrients from plants.

Dr. James I. Kirkland, a paleontologist with the Utah Geological Survey, said , "the beginnings of features we associate with plant-eating dinosaurs." The teeth were not the sharp, bladelike serrated teeth of the typical predator, but smaller and adapted for shredding leaves. "I doubt that this animal could have cut a steak," he said.

It's definitely eating a substantial amount of plants, (but) we still see the original imprint of meat-eating upon it." The creature, with 12.7 cm claws on its outsized hands, measured some 3.7 metres from its snout to the tip of its long skinny tail. It stood just over 3 feet tall at the hip and could apparently reach about 5 feet off the ground with its long neck to munch leaves or fruit, said Kirkland.

All plant-eating dinosaurs were ultimately descended from a meat-eater, and switchovers to plant-eating occurred several times reports Washington Post

'It's our first really good case of a dinosaur in the midst of shifting from the meat-eating body to a plant-eating one,' expert Thomas R Holtz Jr told the journal Nature.

Quick Facts

Scientists are not sure 100% sure what Falcarius, ate, meat or plants or both, they suspect that the transition extended over several million years.

Scientists unearthed 1,700 bones from the base of the Cedar Mountain rock formation in Utah.

Utah state paleontologist James Kirkland describes the creature in Thursday's issue of the British journal Nature with Lindsay Zanno and Scott Sampson of the Utah Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah.

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