Length of the smallest dinosaur was only 5 centimeters
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Millions of years ago, our planet was inhabited by dinosaurs, including small, almost defenseless creatures. Recently, an international group of scientists that deals with the study of ancient animals, found the skull of a tiny dinosaur. The length of the head along with a beak was only 14 millimeters, the size of the body of the creature was about five inches, as in modern . Most interesting is that the skull was found inside the amber, inside fossilized tree resin, more commonly known as amber. Usually found inside it the remains of ancient insects, so the discovery of the bones of the tiny dinosaur is now considered to be a unique phenomenon.
the smallest dinosaur in history
About the discovery of the smallest dinosaur ever was described in a scientific journal . The researchers believe that the dinosaur, named as Oculudentavis khaungraae, and belonged to an adult individual. Length of skull equal to 7.1 mm, but with the beak, the head size was 14 mm. Unfortunately, bones of the trunk paleontologists have not yet discovered, so it remains only to assume that the body size of a tiny dinosaur was roughly as in modern hummingbirds. Thus, the body length of the bee hummingbirds (Mellisuga helenae) is approximately five centimeters.
Hummingbird species Mellisuga helenae
the Life of dinosaurs
By storing inside of amber, the remains allowed us to learn a lot about the lifestyle of a dinosaur. Judging by the shape of the eye sockets, he led day way of life. The structure of the orbits is almost the same as in modern lizards. That is, the eye of the dinosaur were slightly bulging. On the upper and lower jaw Oculudentavis khaungraae were counted on 29-30 teeth. Since they have a pointed form, scientists have suggested that the dinosaur was a carnivore and ate small insects. It is likely that the ancient creature was able to attack even snakes, because his bones were quite strong for such a small body size.
Rendering of a skull of a dinosaur Oculudentavis khaungraae
Despite the fact that scientists compare a dinosaur with bird-Hummingbird, they are not sure that he could fly. According to them, on the evolutionary tree of Oculudentavis khaungraae was located somewhere between birds and dinosaurs. Being found not up to the dinosaurs and birds by weight and size, so this point makes scientists a lot of questions. Perhaps in future research, they finally find out what place in the ancient world took so tiny creatures. However, this is very difficult, because the smaller the animal, the lower the probability that its fragile remains well preserved.
the Remains of a dinosaur Oculudentavis khaungraae inside of amber
How we study dinosaurs?
It is hoped that in the future, scientists will be able to discover inside of amber other parts of the dinosaur. It is believed that the fragile remains of animals can only survive within fossil resin. A piece of amber inside which preserved the skull, was found on the territory of Myanmar, located in South-East Asia. That's where paleontologists often find the so-called "Burmese amber", inside which often immured ancient insects. Sometimes inside a fossil resin found part of a dinosaur, but it happens .
The beauty of the remains inside is that they can be studied without destroying the shell of amber. This is done using the so-called synchrotron radiation, which allows to take high-quality pictures of the object, without removing it from the protective wrapper. When working with the fragile remains of this is extremely important, because any awkward movement can spoil the discovery.
Dinosaur species Oculudentavis khaungraae
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