A giant creature with a large body and a comical face resembling a duck’s bill roamed North America over 72 million years ago.
According to Sci-News, a research team led by the University of Bath (UK) discovered fossilized partial skull of a giant creature in the Cerro Del Pueblo Formation in Mexico.
Detailed analysis revealed that it is a previously unknown dinosaur species, named Coahuilasaurus lipani.
Portrait of the new creature in Mexico, named Coahuilasaurus lipani – (Photo: C. Díaz Frías).
The study published in the scientific journal Diversity states that Coahuilasaurus lipani lived approximately 72.5 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period, which was the last era of dinosaurs on Earth.
Its estimated body length reached up to 8 meters when it was alive, making it one of the largest dinosaur species in the region.
However, the fossilized skull reveals a rather comical face featuring a prominent crest known as a cranial crest and a bill-like mouth.
In fact, it indeed belongs to the lineage of “duck-billed dinosaurs,” specifically the Hadrosauridae family.
More specifically, it belongs to the Kritosaurini subfamily, which includes several other known hadrosaur species, including Kritosaurus navajovius also found in North America.
Dr. Nicholas Longrich from the University of Bath, the lead author of the study, stated that Kritosaurins are among the most diverse lineages of duck-billed dinosaurs in North America, represented by many species from the late Cretaceous period.
Nevertheless, this new species has a jaw morphology that is significantly different from known species, indicating that this group of dinosaurs evolved diversely to adapt to various ecological niches in the area.
The function of the peculiar cranial crest in this group of dinosaurs remains unclear. However, in modern birds—close descendants of dinosaurs—similar structures are sometimes used during combat.
