Those Psittacosauri better keep a watch out for Donald's kids.


Scientists reveal most accurate depiction of a dinosaur ever created
Elsa Panciroli
@gsciencelady
Wednesday 14 September 2016 12.15 EDT
Last modified on Thursday 15 September 2016 10.05 EDT


Forty researchers elbow their way to the front of the room. They whip out their cameras and mobile phones like palaeontological-paparazzi, and start snapping. Others hang back, hands on chins, to take in the animal standing on the table-top from different angles. They dispense approving nods, and converge to discuss their conclusions in hushed tones.

It’s not like anything seen alive on Earth today: it’s the size of large turkey, but with a face like a Jim Henson puppet. The head is a shoe-box with eyes, the Frankensteinian flatness on top accentuated by horns sticking out horizontally from each cheek. A parrot-like beak juts out at the front. One researcher reaches out and dares to touch the broom-like bristles that erupt from its tail. Another leans over and studiously peers up at the animal’s bottom.

This was the scene at the unveiling of paleoartist Bob Nicholls’ new reconstruction of C Hailed as the most accurate dinosaur reconstruction ever, it is based on studies of a spectacular fossil from China, carried out by a team led by Dr Jakob Vinther of the UK’s University of Bristol.



Reconstruction is based on studies of a spectacular fossil from China, preserved with skin and pigments intact

For those who don’t know their dinosaurs (or don’t have a small child to haughtily inform them), Psittacosaurus fossils are commonly found across most of Asia. The bipedal adults used their distinctive beaks to nibble through the vegetation of the Cretaceous, more than 100m years ago. The relatively large brain of Psittacosaurus leads scientists to suspect it may have been a relatively smart dinosaur, with complex behaviours. The large eyes hint that it had good vision.

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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016...ur-ever-created


Based upon:
3D Camouflage in an Ornithischian Dinosaur
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/full...9822(16)30706-0

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