In China, found the remains of a dinosaur, similar to a cross between a turkey and an ostrich

Paleontologists discovered a new species of dinosaur Corythoraptor jacobsi in Ganzhou, a city in southern China, back in 2013. However, only now, researchers were able to reconstruct its appearance, as well as some features of behavior. And the modern flightless bird helped them in this.

Crest brothers

Scientists managed to find an almost complete skeleton, including the skull and lower jaw. This helped to suggest that the creature, at the time of death, was young or at least not older than 8 years. The data obtained indicate that a 1.6-meter-tall dinosaur could have a lifestyle similar to that of a modern cassowary bird (Casuarius unappendiculatus), which lives in Australia and New Guinea.

In the photo: Cassowary

Since the 15-centimeter oviraptor head (this type of giant “dinosaur” dinosaur is called) is crowned with the same crest as that of the cassowary, scientists have suggested that the morals of a modern bird can tell a lot about the behavior of the ancient pangolin. Such a crest suggests that the creature cannot fly. Together with the legs as long as the cassowary, the dinosaur most likely moved quite fast.

Made in China

The longhaired and crested dinosaur lived from 100 to 66 million years ago in the late Cretaceous and probably used its clawed legs to hunt lizards and other small dinosaurs. The head crest served Corythoraptor jacobsi to recognize, communicate, and attract the opposite sex.

The discovery of C. jacobsi once again proves that this region of China was inhabited by various species of oviraptors: this is the seventh representative of this genus found in these places in recent years. And all copies are perfectly preserved.

The sample is now in the Jinzhou Museum of Paleontology in Liaoning Province in China.