And it turns out this dino breathed in a way unlike any seen in this group of dinosaurs before.Scientists discovered unusual rib and breast bone bones in an exceptionally unspoiled fossil skeleton of Heterodontosaurus tucki, a turkey-size, plant-eating ornithischian, or bird-hipped dinosaur– the group that includes duck-billed dinosaurs, frilled dinosaurs like Triceratops and armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus.X-rays of the fossil, which was discovered in South Africas Eastern Cape in 2009, enabled scientists to digitally rebuild the skeleton in 3D. Its one of the earliest species to be consisted of in the ornithischian group, which indicates that H. tucki can supply hints about the evolution of features that are typical amongst ornithischians but vary from other dinosaurs, scientists reported July 6 in the journal eLife.Because the H. tucki skeleton was nearly total, paleontologists found a group of tiny, slim stomach rib bones called gastralia. Paleontologists who formerly rebuilded extinct dinosaurs internal anatomy found proof of comparable air sacs, suggesting that most dinosaurs breathed like contemporary birds, Live Science reported in 2005. Prior to this discovery, some scientists believed that ornithischians may have breathed in a different way from other dinosaurs; this well-preserved H. tucki specimen “was the missing out on piece of the puzzle” for validating that hypothesis, Radermacher stated.

And it turns out this dino breathed in a way unlike any seen in this group of dinosaurs before.Scientists discovered unusual rib and sternum bones in an incredibly unspoiled fossil skeleton of Heterodontosaurus tucki, a turkey-size, plant-eating ornithischian, or bird-hipped dinosaur– the group that consists of duck-billed dinosaurs, frilled dinosaurs like Triceratops and armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus.X-rays of the fossil, which was found in South Africas Eastern Cape in 2009, enabled scientists to digitally reconstruct the skeleton in 3D. Its one of the earliest types to be included in the ornithischian group, which indicates that H. tucki can supply clues about the evolution of features that are typical amongst ornithischians but vary from other dinosaurs, researchers reported July 6 in the journal eLife.Because the H. tucki skeleton was nearly complete, paleontologists found a group of tiny, slim abdominal rib bones called gastralia. Paleontologists who formerly reconstructed extinct dinosaurs internal anatomy found evidence of similar air sacs, suggesting that the majority of dinosaurs breathed like modern-day birds, Live Science reported in 2005.