Recently, in the states of Victoria and New South Wales in the southeast of Australia, they found the remains of newly hatched dinosaurs that lived about 100 million years ago. This discovery provides new evidence for the presence of these animals on the continent during the middle Cretaceous period.
nature.com
During the analysis, it was found that these ancient reptiles belonged to ornithopods. They were two-legged herbivores that are distant relatives of the famous Iguanodon, but were much smaller in size. Unlike the weight of an adult dinosaur of this species, which weighed about 20 kg, its newborn babies weighed no more than 200 g.
The uniqueness of this find is precisely related to the size of ornithopods. After all, earlier researchers came across only the remains of adults. This is the first discovery of the remains of very young dinosaurs in Australia, and possibly in the entire southern hemisphere.
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The study of these finds can reveal new data about the evolution and distribution of dinosaurs in this region of the world. In addition, it can help in understanding what factors, such as climate change and continental movements, have affected ecosystems and biodiversity in the past. After all, some of the dinosaurs found, unfortunately, did not even manage to hatch from the egg.
The causes of death of these cubs are unknown. Researchers suggest that this could be due to the weather being too cold. After all, in those days, southeastern Australia was at the same latitude as modern Greenland, but in a different hemisphere.
nature.com
Source: nature.com
