A new species of spiky-headed dinosaurs has been discovered in Utah, the oldest of its genus ever found in North America. Akainacephalus johnsoni is 75 million years and like its cousin, the Ankylosaurus, had an armored body and an imposing club tail. The dinosaur's scientific journey began 10 years ago in 2008, when a paleontologist with the Bureau of Land Management found what appeared to be a fossil site at the Kaiparowits Formation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A hotbed of prehistoric discovery, the Kaiparowits has been called "dinosaur Shangri La." The National Momument was recently shrunk through an order from President Trump, and some of its former land has now been purchased by a mining company. But even in a dinosaur paradise, Scott Richardson's fossil site stood out. "It had bones from a number of different types of animals. And not only individual bones, but associated skeletons,” says Randall Irmis, chief curator of the National History Museum of Utah, where the bones prepped, in a press statement. There were duckbilled dinosaurs, pig-nosed dinosaurs, and then a dinosaur with a face full of spikes that nobody had seen before. The Museum found a lot of dinosaur to study. “We have a large portion of the skeleton, including nearly all of the skull, a lot of the vertebral column, the pelvis, as well as the limbs and ribs, and a lot of the armor, as well. It’s pretty rare to find so much of the skeleton in one place,” Irmis says. The bones were mainly prepped by an expert volunteer named Randy Johnson, for whom the dinosaur is named. Johnson put in hundreds on the preparatory work, which can include everything from industrial diamond burrs to carefully applied acetic acid. This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. “It’s completely different from any other ankylosaurids that we’ve actually seen,” says Jelle Wiersma, a PhD student who has studied Ankylosaurids with Irmis. The most striking difference is up front with that spiky head. Akainacephalus technically means "spiky head," which shows the uniqueness of that built-in helmet. But the dinosaur was covered in osteoderms, bone tissue deposits which forms scales and plates. It's been a big week for the Cretaceous Period. Earlier this week, scientists announced they had discovered the oldest baby snake in known history, trapped in amber 99 million years ago. Source: Gizmodo This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>Artist’s interpretation of the newly discovered armored dinosaur Akainacephalus johnsoni. Illustration : Andrey Atuchin They’re calling this newly discovered dinosaur “thorny head,” and it’s changing what we know of North American ankylosaurs, the heavily armored herbivores that had the misfortune of living alongside Tyrannosaurus rex during the Late Cretaceous. Advertisement Behold Akainacephalus johnsoni, a new species and genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur. It’s considered the most complete Late Cretaceous ankylosaur ever found in Utah—or in the entire southwestern United States for that matter. Unlike other North American ankylosaurs that lived around the same time, this particular dinosaur featured spikes and cones on its head and snout, hence its name, which translates to “thorny head.” The latter half of its name, johnsoni, h onors Randy Johnson, a museum volunteer who helped to prepare its skull. The details of this remarkable new creature were published today in the science journal PeerJ. The fossilized remains of Akainacephalus johnsoni were discovered in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in south-central Utah. Its bones were buried in 76- million-year-old rocks of the Kaiparowits Formation, a geological layer composed of sedimentary rocks deposited by rivers and streams. Artist’s impression of the new ankylosaurid. Illustration : Andrey Atuchin/DMNS 2017 Working in this high desert terrain, paleontologists from the Natural History Museum of Utah and the University of Utah managed to pull out a number of bones, including an immaculately preserved complete skull, bony armor (including neck rings and spiked plates), several vertebrae, a forelimb, various hindlimb bones, and nearly complete tail with the iconic ankylosaur club still attached. In all, it took paleontologists nearly four years to assemble and fully prepare the bones for analysis. Akainacephalus johnsoni had a medium build, measuring between 13 to 16 feet (4-5 m) long and about 3.5 feet tall (1.5 m) at the hips. Its four legs were positioned directly below its body. Like other ankylosaurid dinos, this creature was built for defense; it featured formidable armor from head to tail, including bony plates called osteoderms. Its head was adorned with a crown-like covering of spikes and horns, and the tip of its tail was equipped with a large bony club, which it likely used to ward off predators. Indeed, as its tank-like appearance suggests, A. johnsoni needed these extreme defenses to survive the brutal conditions of Late Cretaceous North America. This herbivore would have come into regular contact with its contemporary Tyrannosaurus rex, among other predators. The dino’s skull being prepared for display. Image : Phase 2 Productions Advertisement This discovery shows that ankylosaurids were more diverse in their physical characteristics than paleontologists thought. These dinosaurs originated in Asia between 125 million to 100 million years ago, but there’s no sign of them in the North American fossil record until about 77 million years ago. The spikes and cones found on the skull of Akainacephalus resemble those of its ankylosaurid cousin, the New Mexican Nodocephelausaurus kirtlandensis, but that’s about it. Other North American ankylosaurids, like Ankylosaurus, Euoplocephalus, and Ziapelta, featured smooth bony armor on their skulls. The authors of the new study, Jelle P. Wiersma from the Natural History Museum of Utah and Randall B. Irmis from the University of Utah, suspect that Akainacephalus and the New Mexican Nodocephelausaurus are more closely related to some Asian ankylosaurids. A working hypothesis is that two separate groups of ankylosaurid dinosaurs existed in North America during this time, and that a second migration wave from Asia, likely via a land bridge, made it possible. Advertisement Skeleton of the new armored dinosaur as represented by preserved bones. Image : Jelle Wiersma/PeerJ Excitingly, casts of the Akainacephalus johnsoni fossil are now on public display at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City If you’re in the area, check it out and leave us a review of the exhibit below. Advertisement [PeerJ]<doc-sep>
A fossil of a new species of armoured dinosaur has been discovered in Utah, changing how scientists believe the animals evolved. It took almost four years to prepare and analyse the medium-sized dinosaur's skeleton, which is 13-16ft long (4-5m) and about 42 inches (1.5m) tall at the hip, and one of the most complete ever discovered in this region of the US. Armoured dinosaurs, or ankylosauridae, existed exclusively in the northern hemisphere before they became extinct 66 million years ago. Image: A crew from the Natural History Museum of Utah excavated the dinosaur's bones. Pic: NHMU Fossils have been found in North America, East Asia and Europe, and the three regions have different forms of armour to differentiate them. But the new species, Akainacephalus johnsoni, breaks the rules for North American ankylosaurids. Instead of the distinctive smooth armour on the skull shown on other North American fossils, the new species has pointed bones protruding in ridges up to its snout - similar to Asian ankylosaurid fossils. Dr Randall Irmis, co-author of the study, said: "A reasonable hypothesis would be that ankylosaurids from Utah are related to those found elsewhere in western North America, so we were really surprised to discover that Akainacephalus was so closely related to species from Asia." "It is always exciting to name a new fossil taxon, but it is equally exciting if that taxon also provides additional insights into the bigger picture of its life, such as its diet or aspects of its behaviour, and the environment it lived in," said lead author Jelle Wiersma. Image: Randy Johnson spent hundreds of hours preparing the skeleton. Pic: Natural History Museum of Utah The species' name was given in honour of Randy Johnson, a dedicated museum volunteer who spent hundreds of hours preparing the fossil's skull by separating it from surrounding rock and debris. He said it was a "once in a lifetime honour" to have the dinosaur named after him. "I'm a retired chemist, but I've always been interested in most of the science disciplines," Mr Johnson said. "I never thought that I would have the opportunity to actually work on fossils that could be important for palaeontologists. "Now that I'm a museum volunteer, I'm getting the opportunity to work on a large variety of fossils and consult with top palaeontologists - it's like a dream second career." Ankylosaurids are a family of four-legged herbivores with powerful tail clubs and armoured plating covering their bodies. The species is believes to have originated in Asia up to 125 million years ago, but did not appear in the North American fossil record until 77 million years ago. The species was announced in the scientific journal PeerJ and unveiled on exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Utah in Salt Lake City.