Aquilarhinus palimentus lived approximately 80 million years ago in what is now Texas. Image credit: ICRA Art.
SciNews has an article about the discovery of a primitive hadrosaur. The specimen was found and collected in the 1980s and 1990s in Texas and is called Aquilarhinus palimentus. It belongs to Hadrosauridae (duck-billed dinosaurs) a group of plant-eating dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. The original paper appeared in the Journal of Systematic Paleontology.
“Hadrosaurids were the most common herbivorous dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic Era, and all had a similar-looking snout,” the researchers said.
“The front of the jaws meet in a U-shape to support a cupped beak used for cropping plants.”
“The beak of some species is broader than in others, but there was no evidence of a significantly different shape and therefore likely also different feeding style in duckbills until Aquilarhinus palimentus was discovered.”
The lower jaws of Aquilarhinus palimentus meet in a peculiar W-shape, creating a wide, flattened scoop.
