A DINOSAUR fossil nicknamed the Mud Dragon has given scientists insight into a family of creatures that flourished just before the mass extinction.

Edinburgh University vertebrate palaeontologist and evolutionary bio-logist at the school of geosciences, Dr Steve Brusatte, made the amazing discovering with researcher Dr

Junchang Lü at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

The bird-like species was discovered on a Chinese building site, preserved almost intact and lying on its front with its wings and neck outstretched. Scientists believe the creature may have died in this pose after becoming stuck in mud 66 to 72 million years ago, and have named the new species Tongtianlong limosus, meaning “muddy dragon on the road to heaven”.

Brusatte said: “This new dinosaur is one of the most beautiful, but saddest, fossils I’ve ever seen. But we’re lucky that the ‘Mud Dragon’ got stuck in the muck, because its skeleton is one of the best examples of a dinosaur that was flourishing during those final few million years before the asteroid came down and changed the world in an instant.”

The two-legged animal belongs to a family of feathered dinosaurs called oviraptorosaurs, which are characterised by having short, toothless heads and sharp beaks.

Fossil discoveries in recent decades suggest this group of flightless creatures was experiencing a population boost, diversifying into new species, during the 15 million years before dinosaurs became extinct.

It was probably one of the last groups of dinosaurs to diversify before the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which killed off all non-bird dinosaurs.

The skeleton was found during excavations using explosives at a school construction site near Ganzhou, in southern China, and remains remarkably well preserved and almost complete, despite some harm caused by a dynamite blast.

Brusatte added: “It was found at a construction site by workmen when they were dynamiting, so they nearly blasted this thing off the hillside. We almost never knew about this dinosaur.”

A few small parts of the fossil were blasted off, but considering the circumstances of its discovery, the fossil is remarkably complete.

“It’s about the size of a sheep, and it’s part of a group of very advanced bird-like, feathered dinosaurs called oviraptorosaurs.

“They were basically the last group of dinosaurs to blossom before the asteroid hit,” said Brusatte.

The researchers say the fossil is particularly special for the insight it provides into the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds.

Brusatte added: “Modern birds came from dinosaurs and it’s dinosaurs like Tongtianlong that give us a glimpse of what the ancestors of modern birds would have looked like. Fossils like these capture evolution in action.”

Some oviraptorosaurs, including the newly found species, had crests of bone on their heads that were probably used as display structures to attract mates and intimidate rivals, similar to behaviour seen in modern-day cassowaries.

Lü said: “The discovery of the new oviraptorid dinosaur further indicates that the Ganzhou area of southern China is a most productive locality of oviraptorid dinosaurs, and has a huge diversity of oviraptorosaurs from the late Cretaceous.

“It will provide important information on the study of evolution, distribution and behaviour of oviraptorid dinosaurs.”

Last year, Brusatte and his team of scientists discovered dinosaur footprints from the biggest creatures ever to roam Britain, on the Isle of Skye. The huge plant-eating sauropods likely grew to at least 15 metres in length and weighed more than 10 tonnes.

Brusatte, who led the study, identified the tracks in layers of rock, which would have been at the bottom of a shallow, salt-water lagoon when the prints were made.

By analysing the structure of the footprints, the team found that the dinosaurs were early, distant relatives of more well-known species, such as brontosaurus and diplodocus.


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