A new analysis of an unusual nodosaur fossil found in 2017 suggests that this armored dinosaur actually had double protection that allowed it to resist predator bites.
Dinosaurs definitely experienced everything. The matterThe matter Of MorphologyMorphology and particularly the means of protection. In a world where super predators lurk in every corner of the jungle, it was best to be well protected when you were a vegetarian, even if you weighed several tons.
Thus many dinosaur species offered a whole battery of defenses, from horns, claws, clubs, to tail tips or dorsal spines. But one of the most effective was certainly the armor worn by the famous ankylosaurs and their relatives.
A layer of keratin that covers the bone armor.
A fossil of a nodosaur, a herbivore over five meters long, and a fragment of it cladeclade ankylosaurians, have also revealed the incredible efficiency of this protective armor. On this extremely well-preserved fossil dating from the beginning of CretaceousCretaceous (about 110 million years), researchers have indeed found its remains. KeratinKeratinOur hair and nails are made of this material. A remarkable finding because keratin is not properly preserved during the process. FossilizationFossilization.
Until now, it was thought that the primary protection of ankylosaurs and nodosaurs was provided by the bony plate structures they wore on their bodies. OfOf And that only a thin layer of keratin would cover it. A petrified nodosaur discovered in 2017 in a mine in Alberta, Canada, however, shows that this layer of keratin was actually much thicker, and would have served a very important protective role.
A real chain mail
Thus the bony arms of nodosaurs would have been covered with a 16 cm thick layer of keratin, acting like real chain mail. As mentioned in this article. Live Sciencesimulations show that the animal could thus withstand a force equal to the impact of one. the carthe car Fully started vitessevitesse ! This double protection would have ensured the survival of these dinosaurs against powerful predators. cuttingcutting.
These findings were presented by Michael Habib during the Congress on October 30, 2024. Society for Vertebrate Paleontology.
