Morocco, discovered the fossils of new species of dinosaurs
A group of paleontologists recently announced that they had discovered fossils of dinosaur species "first cousins" of the t-rex, in the region of Morocco. This discovery is an indicator that this region of the world was home to various species of dinosaurs, until their mass extinction caused by an asteroid that hit the Earth 66 million years ago.
The discovered dinosaurs are thought to be from the Abelisauridae family and dated to the Late Cretaceous, which is between − 145.0 and − 66.0 million years ago. Led by Nick Longrich, of the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath in England, this study was co-produced with Nour-Eddine Jalil, professor at the Natural History Museum, researcher at the Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, Erik Isasmendi and Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of the Basque Country (Spain).
Published in the Cretaceous Research journal on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, this discovery provides more insight into the rich fauna and flora of this region, including the diversity of dinosaurs, shortly before their mass extinction after an asteroid struck the Earth in the peninsula of Yucatan (Mexico).
The study describes t-rex's "early cousins" with "short bulldog snouts and even shorter arms," the carnivorous counterparts of Northern Hemisphere tyrannosaurs.
The discovery also illustrates the diversity of dinosaurs that lived in Africa before extinction.
For more info: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105677
