Fossil ankylosaurus, discovered in Moroccan mountains in 2023, was decorated with some of the most frightening armor ever seen.
Researchers suggest that this intimidating array of spikes was sexually selected – like the tail of a peacock, it originally evolved to attract peers rather than stop predators. By supporting this tedious display, a dinosaur named Spicomellus Afer has shown it to be a healthy and valuable partner.
A study analyzing the fossilized ruins of S. Afer specimens dating back to the Middle Jurassic (174.7-1615 million years ago) was published on Nature on Wednesday (August 27).
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Early rib bone fragments with fusion spikes, also discovered in 2021 from Morocco, provided the first evidence of this strange species.
“The first thing we did was a CT scan to make sure it wasn’t a fake and to make sure someone hadn’t thrust their spine into the top of the ring,” Susannah Madement, a paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History in London, told Live Science. It was actually real, so she and her team followed the site where it was discovered, leading to a 2023 discovery at Mount Middle Atlas near Bluman.
Analysis of new fossil materials is S. It confirms that Afer is the earliest known ankylosaurus. The specimen consists of fragments of vertebrae and rib bones, parts of the pelvis, and osteoclasts – skin bone deposits found in modern reptiles such as crocodiles and crocodiles.
The fossil collection helped the author reconstruct how animals saw in life. According to the maid, the low-haired turtle-shaped animal was about 13 feet (4 meters). She said the skeletons are not perfect and it is likely that these measurements are inaccurate.
The long spikes extended from the bone skin of the neck and squealed their heads in fantastic arrangements.
“The Ankylosaurus have a bone collar around the neck, but it’s usually a series of flat plates that are fused together and sit around the neck,” the Madement said. “It had a huge, sturdy bone collar with neck shape and a huge pair of long, long spikes on both sides.”
It reached at least 34 inches (87 cm) of the 10 neck spikes that extend from either side of the neck. The additional spikes protrude from each rib and were actually part of the skeleton.
“When you look at the characteristics among living animals that are very bloated and appear to be incompetent, it can be a nuisance to carry them around.
Still, researchers suggest that these spikes may have served secondary defensive purposes.
They speculate that the tail ends feature a mace-like arrangement. One of the blade-like spines discovered by the researchers was 17 inches (42 cm) long and unlikely to adhere to other parts of the body.
The caudal vertebrae, which supported this horrible armature, indicates that the mechanism of the Cretaceous choroidal defense club was on track early in the evolution of this group of dinosaurs. The “handle vertebrae” (bone closely linked without cartilage between cartilage) helped stabilize the bone appendages that later ankylosaurus were known to.
The fact that S. Afer is characterized by similar bones indicates that its armor is not purely ornamental.
Among the Ankylosaurus, it is possible that the function actually follows fashion. Cretaceous Ankylosaurus featured simpler armor, and was a defense against an increase in enveloping dinosaurs, Crocodilians, snakes and mammals who would almost certainly have considered them attractive prey.
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