He lived 120 million years ago. A new fossil of a bird-like dinosaur was discovered in China
Scientists have discovered a bird-like dinosaur that lived about 120 million years ago in modern China, in the remains of its intestines, the partial skeleton of an ancient frog.
Scientists, including researchers from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, say the dinosaur named Daurlong wangi was a type of medium-sized dinosaur, the dromaeosauridae, a group of predatory bird-like dinosaurs.
Scientists say this species primarily feeds on fish and other mammals and dinosaurs.
The dinosaur lived during the early Cretaceous period, about 145 to 100 million years ago, and this creature was part of the “Jehol Biota”, an ecosystem that describes lands, fresh water and organisms in the Cretaceous period, in what is today northeastern China. According to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
In the dinosaur remains, scientists also found a "large bluish layer" in the abdomen, representing one of the few times that gut remains appear among these dinosaurs.
"Dromeosauridae are a group of small to medium-sized theropod dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous period in both hemispheres," said Zuri Wang, from the Institute of Geology at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.
"The early Cretaceous Jehul biota from northeastern China provided a rich diversity of Dromiosauridae, most of which refer to Microraptorinae," added Dr. Wang.
In the study, scientists described the dinosaur species based on a nearly complete skeleton found at Pigeon Hill in the Longjiang Formation in Inner Mongolia.
"The overall style of Daurlong wangi is an almost complete, articulated skeleton measuring about 1.5 meters in length," they said.
Scientists also found a partial skeleton of an ancient frog in its gut contents, marking the first case of gut preservation in a dinosaur closely related to birds.
They said: "Reconstructions of the digestive system in extinct species, including dinosaurs, can be indirectly inferred from the remains of the gut content."
The scientists added: “The Daurlong wangi specimen shows the first case of gut preservation in a theropod lineage very close to the ancestors of birds.”
Source: websites