8 meter long monster appeared in Mexico, is an unknown species

(NLDO) - This giant beast with a funny face and a duck-billed mouth roamed North America more than 72 million years ago.

According to Sci-News , a research team led by the University of Bath (UK) found a fossilized part of the skull of a giant beast in Mexico's Cerro Del Pueblo formation.

Detailed analysis revealed it to be a previously unknown species of dinosaur, named Coahuilasaurus lipani.

Portrait of a new Mexican monster, named Coahuilasaurus lipani - Photo: C. Díaz Frías

The article published in the scientific journal Diversity said Coahuilasaurus lipani lived about 72.5 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, the last beast era of the Earth.

Its body length is estimated to have been up to 8 m when it lived, making it one of the largest dinosaurs in the region.

However, the fossil skull helps to recreate a very funny face with a bump called the cranial crest and a duck-beak-like mouth.

In fact, it does belong to the "duck-billed dinosaur" lineage, the Hadrosauridae.

More specifically, it belongs to the genus Kritosaurini, a clade that includes several other known species of pansaur, including the North American Kritosaurus navajovius.

Kritosaurins were one of the most diverse duck-billed dinosaur lineages in North America, represented by a wide range of species from the Late Cretaceous of the Cretaceous period, said lead author Dr Nicholas Longrich from the University of Bath.

However, the new species has a jaw morphology that is very different from known species, suggesting that this group of dinosaurs evolved diversity to adapt to different ecological niches in the region.

The function of this group of dinosaurs' strange crests remains unclear, but in modern birds – which are close descendants of dinosaurs – similar structures are sometimes used in combat.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/quai-thu-dai-8-m-xuat-hien-o-mexico-la-loai-chua-tung-biet-196240913111422893.htm