Posted on 12/07/2011 7:49:16 PM PST by SunkenCiv
Nearly 100 years after a set of fossil remains were uncovered, an international team of scientists has discovered a new species of dinosaur.
The new discovery, a horned dinosaur named Spinops sternbergorum (pronounced "SPIN-ops stern-berg-OR-uhm"), roamed the Earth approximately 76 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period, in southern Alberta, Canada, according to a press release.
Spinops sternbergorum is named after its spiny face, and combines with the name of the original discoverers, a father and son fossil collecting team. The duo, Charles H. and Levi Sternberg, found the prehistoric remains back in 1916. The Telegraph reports the fossils were excavated from a quarry in the vicinity of a "bone bed" of fossils.
Upon finding the skulls, the two men noticed the uniqueness of the remains and shipped the fossils off to the Natural History Museum in London. Upon arrival at the museum, the pieces were considered "too scrappy" for exhibit, and the dinosaur remains were placed in storage for decades. They remained shelved until they were pulled out and cleaned for study after experts recognized the importance of these previously unobserved fossils.
Spinops sternbergorum is described as a smaller cousin of Triceratops. The prehistoric animal was a plant-eater estimated to weigh about two tons during its era.
The press release described the dinosaur as having "a single large horn projected from the top of the nose, and a bony neck frill sported at least two long, backward-projecting spikes as well as two forward-curving hooks."
It is these characteristics that differentiate Spinops from other known horned dinosaurs...
The full details of this discovery and formal naming of the new dinosaur species are outlined in the December issue of the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
(Excerpt) Read more at digitaljournal.com ...
Does everything have to be political??
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uh huh, I was there to see it. And, that's as truthful as the claim.
This is like when I clean the basement and find things I’ve been missing for years.
I used to have an intact skeleton of one of these dinos, but when I went away to college my mom sold it for 50 cents at a garage sale.
The estimate of the age is truthful, as opposed to than claiming that the Earth turned 6015 last month.
She should have gotten at least 2 bucks for it.
Only 76 million years? I guess the age of this animal would make it almost contemporaneous with ‘Sue’ the T-Rex that had red blood cells and spongeform tissues still in her femurs.
uh huh, I was there to see it. And, that's as truthful as the claim.
I can't say for certain where you're coming from, but I'm sort of reminded of a website I saw that claimed that dinosaurs lived during biblical times. I think Noah saddled up a diplodocus and Sampson slew velociraptors with his mighty sword.
“........roamed the Earth approximately 76 million years ago”
I dispute this. According to my calculations, it was 73.5 million years ago. I would like to see some explicit proof of why they added an extra 2.5 million years.
2 1/2 million years is an incredibly long long long time.
No red blood cells have ever been found, period. The "remains" of some red blood cells have been found in some dinosaurs (I have no idea about Sue). Red blood cells don't last any significant time at all. The iron formerly in the hemoglobin does.
BBC One has an unbelievably good series running on dinosaurs now—it’s called Planet Dinosaur. The effects are quite lifelike, and there is a lot of science, not fluff. I don’t think it’s on BBC America yet, but anyone inclined to find it will know how.
Looks like a spike buck. Look at them ears! Must be a muley. Snicker-snort!
Smaller cousin or just an adolescent version of Triceratops?
Don’t tell me...I know this one... the museum basement flooded and the dinosaur drowned and was buried in the dust until a janitor exposed its bones during a clean up.
A dino in the rough?
Thanks for the pix....Kinda looks like a rhino but their (rhino) “horn” is matted hair.
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