DURING 2021 many dinosaur fossil discoveries, ranging from individual Tyrannosaurus rex that ever existed to the longest dinosaur. Research on dinosaurs is still very interesting to reveal the various types that ever existed. Because, there are still so many amazing new dinosaur species discoveries. Here are 10 incredible dinosaur discoveries during 2021, summarized by LiveScience:
1. The First Dinosaur with a Perfect Cloacal Hole
Researchers have found all kinds of dinosaur remains, including bones, teeth, skin marks, and feathers. This is the first time that paleobiologists from the University of Bristol in England have found the first dinosaur with a perfect cloacal opening. According to a study published in the journal Current Biology in January 2021, this cloacal hole was used by dinosaurs to defecate, urinate, reproduce, and lay eggs.
"This is the cloaca itself, formed in a perfect and unique way," said Jakob Vinther, lead researcher in paleobiology at the University of Bristol, UK.
2. The Most T-rex Dinosaurs
It is estimated that as many as 2.5 billion individual T-rexes lived during the last 2.5 million years of the Cretaceous period (145 million to 66 million years ago), before the killer asteroid collided with Earth. The researchers examined all the factors to determine this number, including the king dinosaur population density, habitat, generation time, and number of generations. According to a study in the journal Science published in April 2021, fewer than 100 individual T-rex fossils have been found.
3. Supersaurus, The Longest Dinosaur
Supersaurus was recorded as the longest dinosaur, at about 39 meters (128 ft) and maybe even 42 meters (137 ft). According to unpublished research presented at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's annual conference in 2021, Supersaurus was discovered in 1972. Supersaurus has always been known for its length, although this plant-eating dinosaur was about 34 meters (111 ft) tall. But now, freshly unearthed and analyzed bones reveal just how super-sized these dinosaurs were.
4. Dinosaurs Young and Old in Groups on the Go
A dinosaur grave found in Argentina reveals that long-necked dinosaurs from hatchlings the size of mice traveled together in groups 40 million years ago. Researchers found more than 100 fossilized eggs and bones from 80 individual Mussaurus patagonicus dating back 192 million years, during the Jurassic period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago). There is even evidence that young dinosaurs gathered (and died). together, indicating the herd has an internal structure. According to research published in the journal Scientific Reports in October, this is the oldest evidence of complex and group social behavior in dinosaurs.
5. Dead Dinosaurs Incubate Eggs
This Nonavian dinosaur is the only dinosaur found sitting on an embryonic egg. This dinosaur is like an ostrich that died incubating eggs in its nest. This dinosaur, a species of oviraptorosaur, probably incubated the eggs during the Cretaceous period in China. According to research in the journal Science Bulletin published in May, out of 24 eggs, seven still had fossil embryos that were 70 million years old!
6. Fastest Dinosaur Other Than T-rex
There were two flesh-eating dinosaurs running at nearly 45 km per hour (28 mph) in northern Spain. The trail was left by two different carnivorous individuals running across a slippery lake floor during the early Cretaceous. A study in the journal Scientific Reports in December found that this dinosaur was as fast as the fastest man Usain Bolt, briefly hitting a speed of 44.3 km per hour. in the 2009 race.
7. A Shark-Toothed Dinosaur That Was Bigger Than a Tyrannosaurus
Seeing the huge Tyrannosaurus, we definitely think it was a predator at the top of the ecosystem. But it turns out that there was a bigger dinosaur, namely Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis. The complex name is a shark-toothed dinosaur or carcharodontosaur. According to a study in the journal Royal Society Open Science in September, Carcharodontosaurus was a cousin and competitor of tyrannosaurs. Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis lived in what is now Uzbekistan about 90 million years ago. It is 8 meters long and weighs 1,000 kilograms). In other words, it was twice as long and five times heavier than the previously known apex predator of the ecosystem, Tyrannosaurus Timurlengia.
8. Tyrannosaurus Fights to Defend its Territory
This fearsome tyrannosaurus bit the face of another dinosaur, though probably not to kill. Instead, these predators may have gotten a bite when they struggled to defend territory, mates or higher status. A study in the journal Paleobiology in September found knowledge of the behavior of these dinosaurs was possible by studying 202 skulls and jaws of heavily scarred Tyrannosaurs, a total of 324. Only about half of the older Tyrannosaurs had this scar. So maybe only adult Tyrannosaurs got into this fray.
9. Long-Necked Dinosaurs Migrated Away
This fine pink quartzite Gastrolite stone is a clue that dinosaurs migrated long distances. From these rocks it is known that long-necked dinosaurs, called Sauropods, swallowed pink Quartzite Gastrolite rocks in what is now Wisconsin and died in what is now Wyoming, in the Jurassic period. This pink quartzite or stomach stone was used to grind food, which dinosaurs swallowed in one region and then stored in another. The rock the researchers found is the Morrison Formation in Wyoming. That means the distance covered is hundreds of miles.
10. The Weird Ankylosaur Had the Tail of the Aztec Sword
The discovery of this unique tailed dinosaur reveals an unknown lineage of the Ankylosaurs in the Southern Hemisphere. When Pangea separated during the Jurassic period, ankylosaurus on the northern supercontinent Laurasia grew a tail armed with spikes and sticks. But now, the newly discovered Stegouros elengassen in Chile, suggests that the Ankylosaurs in the Southern Hemisphere evolved very differently. They developed tail types similar to weapons such as the Aztec sword or the macuahuitl. The newly discovered ankylosaur died more than 70 million years ago on the banks of rivers, possibly in quicksand. This explains why the specimen is so well-preserved that it is a known species of sword-tailed dinosaur
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