Researchers uncover fossil remains of 125 million years old sail-backed dinosaur

Researchers in Spain have discovered the fossil remains of a sail backed dinosaur that roamed north-eastern Spain 125 million years ago. The unique feature of this dinosaur that set them apart from other Cretaceous Period dinosaurs was its peculiar sail-like features on its back. The Styracosterna dinosaur, named Morelladon, had tall neural spines on its dorsal vertebrae. The discovery comes after scientists found the newest species of armoured dinosaurs in Australia on Dec. 08.

According to the authors of the study, published in science journal PLOS ONE, this sail-backed dinosaur inhabited the Iberian landmass among the Morelladon beltrani species of dinosaur, writes Mirror.co.uk.

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Morelladon is a styracosternan ornithopod medium-sized, 2.5 metres high and six metres in length. The partial skeleton that has been unearthed mainly composes pelvic bones, dorsal and sacral vertebrae. It is very similar to its relative Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis in body length and proportions.

The Morelladon remains were discovered in Spain's Castellón province near the town of Morella. It is a four-legged herbivore. The discovery was announced on Wednesday. The researchers can only hypothesize about the functions of its sail.

“The sail could help in heat exchange - thermoregulation - focused on releasing excess body heat into the environment, like the ears of the modern-day elephants, or as a storage place for fat to be used during periods of low food supply,” said Fernando Escaso, paleontologist at Spain’s National University of Distance Education's Evolutionary Biology Group, reports Scientific American.

Escaso added that the sail-like structure has periodically appeared in vertebrates’ evolutionary history even in animal groups not remotely related to each other.

Co-author Dr. Jose Miguel Gasulla says that the Morella’s dinosaur fauna has lots of similarities to those of other contemporary European sites.

“However, this discovery shows an interesting rise of the iguanodontoid diversity in southern Europe around 125 million years ago,” he added.

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