New species of dinosaurs: discover the “relative” of the beaked Tyrannosaurus Rex | Berthasaura leopoldinae has no teeth

A team of scientists has identified a new species of dinosaur, even though it belongs to the same family as dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus RexIt has no beak and no teeth. it’s about Berthasaura leopoldinae, whose fossils were found in Brazil between 2011 and 2014.

After extensive research, experts have been able to determine that the bones in the Parana are consistent with the group of theropod dinosaurs but also present some distinct characteristics.

Berthasaura was a small specimen, about one meter in length and 80 centimeters in height, weighing between 8 and 10 kilograms.

According to the latest study published in the journal temper natureThe process of classifying this dinosaur has been very complex, as fossils of the same family – the nosaurosaurs – are rare and highly fragmented. This is why they took so long to verify that Berthasaura, unlike TRex, does not have teeth.

According to Jovan Alves de Sousa, a doctoral student at the National Museum of Brazil and lead author of the article, the skull of Perthasaura is one of the most complete examples of a theropod, not only in Brazil, but in the world.

To confirm that there were no teeth in the collected material and to understand if it was indeed an animal case, and not a preservation problem, the team sent the fossil to the Nuclear Instrumentation Laboratory (LIN) of the Alberto Luis Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Engineering Research (COPE) where it underwent a series of image analyses.

Through computerized microscopy, it was possible to determine the absence of dental caries in the lower jaw and upper jaw, confirming that this peculiarity is unique in the new dinosaur. The pictures also showed signs and grooves indicating the presence of a The horny beak is similar to what occurs in birds today.