mario lances
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Diplodocus evolved from a much smaller ancestor.
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Nationalgeographic.co.id – A new study reconstructing leg muscles Thecodontosaurus reveal how dinosaur sauropoda 50 tons like Diplodocus, move and evolve. Diplodocus evolved from much smaller ancestors, such as the wolf-sized Thecodontosaurus.
The new research was led by the University of Bristol and was published recently in the journal Royal Society Open Science. The publication can be accessed openly online under the title “Walking with early dinosaurs: appendicular myology of the Late Triassic sauropodomorph Thecodontosaurus antiquus”.
The evolution of dinosaurs was characterized by many independent shifts from bipedality or locomotion with two limbs to quadrupedality or move on four limbs. The Sauropodomorpha is one lineage that transitioned from a small bipedal form to a four-legged animal, with a series of intermediate postural strategies that developed in the sauropodomorph non-sauropoda.
As known, Thecodontosaurus was a small to medium-sized bipedal dinosaur that roamed around Great Britain during the Triassic period (about 205 million years ago). The reconstruction details the anatomy of the most important muscles involved in movement.
Also Read: Supersaurus Reportedly To Be The Longest Dinosaur Ever
This dinosaur was one of the first to be discovered and named by scientists, in 1836. However, the find still surprises scientists with new information about how the earliest dinosaurs lived and evolved.
Antonio Ballell, PhD student at Bristol’s School of Earth Sciences and lead author of the study, said in University of Bristol newsthat they house a large collection of fossils Thecodontosaurus beautifully preserved ones found around Bristol. “The amazing thing about these fossilized bones is how much they preserve the scars and roughness that the limb muscles leave on them with their attachment,” Ballell said.
Gabriel Ugueto
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The limb muscles of the Bristol dinosaur, Thecodontosaurus antiquus.
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These features are very valuable in scientific terms for inferring the shape and direction of the limb muscles. Reconstructing muscles in extinct species requires excellent fossil preservation, but also a good understanding of the muscle anatomy of closely related living things.
Antonio Ballell adds that in the case of dinosaurs, we have to look at modern crocodiles and birds, which form a group we call archosaurs, meaning ‘ruling reptiles’. “Dinosaurs are extinct members of this lineage, and because of their evolutionary similarities, we can compare muscle anatomy in crocodiles and birds and study the scars they leave on bones to identify and reconstruct the position of these muscles in dinosaurs,” he explains.
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