Palaeontologists discover the Arnold Schwarzenegger of duck-billed dinosaurs

Utah and California researchers have unearthed a new duck-billed species of dinosaur in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah.

Washington, Oct 4 : Utah and California researchers have unearthed a new duck-billed species of dinosaur in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah.

Lead author, Utah Museum of Natural History palaeontologist Terry Gates said Gryposaurus monumentensis' robjust jaws allowed it to eat just about any vegetation it stumbled across.

"It was one of the most robust duck-billed dinosaurs ever. It was a monster. With its robust jaws, no plant stood a chance against G. monumentensis," said Gates.

The scientists unearthed the fossils of this ancient plant-eater from the rocks of the Kaiparowits Formation.

They announced the name of the creature - Gryposaurus monumentensis (Gryposaurus meaning "hook-beaked lizard", and monumentensis in honour of the monument where the fossils were found).

Alan Titus, paleontologist for the national monument, said, "Gryposaurus monumentensis was probably the largest dinosaur in the 75-million-year-old Kaiparowits fossil ecosystem".

Scott Sampson, another paleontologist with the Utah museum who was involved with the project, said the creature could be described to as the "Arnold Schwarzenegger of duck-billed dinosaurs".

Scientists said the well-preserved skull was initially missing key pieces from the nose region. Fortunately, the California museum had collected a box full of eroded bones, including bits of the nose bone, which was critical for identifying the creature.

"I knew immediately that we had some species of Gryposaurus," Gates said.

The first description of the duck-billed dinosaur - which dates to the Late Cretaceous Period 75 million years ago - appears in the Oct. 3 issue of the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.

Gates said while the diet of the G monumentensis is unknown, the considerable size of the creature and massive teeth and jaws it possessed were most probably used to slice up large amounts of tough, fibrous plant material.

"At any given time, the dinosaur had over 300 teeth available to slice up plant material. Inside the jaw bone, there were numerous replacement teeth waiting, meaning that at any moment, this Gryposaur may have carried more than 800 teeth," said Gates.

"It was capable of eating most any plant it wanted to. Although much more evidence is needed before we can hypothesize on its dietary preferences," he said.

ANI