Tomsk State University researchers described a new species of herbivorous dinosaur belonging to the family of titanosaurids. The public was informed about the opening by the press service of TSU.
The remains of an ancient animal were discovered in the Kemerovo region back in 2008. It took scientists several years to extract the dinosaur bones from the cemented rock. Then paleontologists carefully examined all the fragments of bones found to determine which species this animal belongs to.
Together, researchers from TSU, the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and St. Petersburg State University have established that the remains belong to a herbivorous dinosaur from the titanosaurid family. These are large four-legged dinosaurs with a tail and a long neck. Individuals of these ancient animals weighed over 100 tons and reached 40 meters in length.
However, a careful analysis showed that the fragments of bones found in the village of Shestakovo differ from all previously found remains of representatives of the titanosaur family. Russian paleontologists concluded that they managed to find a new species of representatives of this group.
Also, experts have established that an open species of dinosaurs from the infraorder of sauropods inhabited the territory of modern Western Siberia at the end of the Cretaceous. However, scientists have not yet clarified which features of the body structure distinguish these dinosaurs from their counterparts.
It is reported that Tomsk specialists have already completed the description of the open species of dinosaurs and are currently collecting the ancient animal into a single whole. The shoulder blades, neck, sacrum and foot have already found their place, and by the end of this year paleontologists will completely complete the collection of the dinosaur skeleton and exhibit it in the main building of TSU.