9 fossils that changed the look at dinosaurs
US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Dinosaur skeletons almost always impress ordinary viewers. True, not all of them are really interesting to scientists and give an idea of the way of life or the exact appearance of ancient reptiles. Breakthroughs are rare, but it is they who change our view of the history of dinosaurs.
Megalosaurus is the first dinosaur found. When part of his femur was discovered in the UK in 1676, a professor at Oxford University mistook it for part of the giant’s leg. Only a century and a half later, in 1824, William Buckland called the creature a “megalosaurus.” The term “dinosaurs” arose another 20 years later, in 1842. Other significant paleontological discoveries, thanks to which we know a little better what life was like in the era of dinosaurs, see photos:
We used to think that the skin of tyrannosaurs was green and scaly, like reptiles. But the utiran, who lived 50 million years before tyrannosaurs, was completely covered with feathers. Adult individuals of the tyrannosaurus rex did without plumage, but their cubs almost certainly flaunted them.
The remains of the Leonardo, as paleontologists called the dug skeleton, were not the first brachilophosaurus found. But since this teenage brachilophosaurus mummified before it was petrified, the most ideal dinosaur in human history fell into the hands of scientists. Perhaps, not a single skeleton has been studied before or after so thoroughly and in so many ways.
In this “dyno-bird” primitive feathers were first discovered, more resembling fur. At the same time, further study of the remains showed that with the archeopteryx Sinosauropteryx had almost nothing in common. This led scientists to reconsider their assumptions about the evolution of dinosaurs in birds.
First described by the American paleontologist Jack Horner, also known as the prototype of the protagonist of Jurassic Park – Dr. Alan Grant. After a careful study of the well-preserved fossilized eggs, skeletons of young and adult individuals, mayazaur was called the first dinosaurs to care for their offspring.
Dinosaur fossils found at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries mainly belonged to relatively small ornithopods or theropods, which were only slightly larger. The discovery of the remains of the diplodocus revealed to the world the existence of sauropods, real giants, even by the standards of dinosaurs. The average diplodocus is 28 meters long.
In 1859, Charles Darwin published his famous book, The Origin of Species, in which he described in detail the theory of evolution. Soon, the ideally preserved skeleton of the archeopteryx was discovered, which was immediately brought to the “missing link” between dinosaurs and birds. Later they found much more convincing transitional forms, but everyone remembered Archeopteryx.
He was the second creature to be defined as a dinosaur. Iguanodon’s teeth were discovered by British geologist Gideon Mantell. He showed them to various scientists, but they felt that the teeth belong to fish or rhinos. Only a couple of years later, a giant iguana-like creature was discerned in the remains.
The bones of the Mosasaurs were found for hundreds of years, but could not understand to whom they belong. The Mozasaurus is remarkable in that it was he who was first ranked among the oldest extinct species. This was done by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier, who was the first to suggest that some creatures could live millions of years before humans.
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