Mexico City (AP) – In Mexico, researchers say they have discovered a previously unknown genus and species of dinosaurs.
The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) announced Thursday (local time) that the herbivorous species Tlatolophus galorum can be identified because nearly 80 percent of a preserved skull was found during excavations in the state of Coahuila in northern Mexico. This also included a ridge of 1.32 meters.
The genus name Tlatolophus consists of the word Tlahtolli (word) in the Aztec language Nahuatl and the Greek word Lophus (comb). The shape of the comb, she said, resembles a symbol that Mesoamericans used to represent communication and knowledge. The comb also had a communication function: through the internal passages connecting the nose and the trachea, it acted like a combined horn.
The discovery was preceded by the discovery of the animal’s tail in 2005, as explained by scientists from INAH and UNAM University in Mexico City in the publication “Cretaceous Research”. In 2013, this was saved.
The institute said the dinosaur must have died 72 or 73 million years ago in a water body that was rich in sediments. As a result, his body must have quickly covered the ground, which preserved it.
“This fossil, which is still under investigation, is an exception in Mexican palaeontology because the very auspicious events had to happen millions of years ago when Coahuila was a tropical region – like a large coastal plain – in order to preserve it under the conditions below,” said paleontologist Felisa. Aguilar, according to the ad, “We’ve found it.”
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