While other species in the group could reach 4 metres in length and up to 400 kg, this teenage specimen would have been about a metre long, weighing about 6 kg
Zavacephale rinpoche. PIC COURTESY/Masaya Hattori
Some of the most remarkable dinosaur fossils were found this year, including one of the most heavily armoured creatures that ever lived.
Zavacephale rinpoche: This dome-headed dinosaur found in Mongolia lived 108 million years ago, making it the oldest of its kind ever discovered. The fossil skull protruding from the ground was described as a “cabochon jewel”. While other species in the group could reach 4 metres in length and up to 400 kg, this teenage specimen would have been about a metre long, weighing about 6 kg.
Spicomellus afer. PIC COURTESY/Matthew Dempsey
Spicomellus afer: A 165-million-year-old dinosaur fossil found in Morocco, a kind of ankylosaur, may be one of the most heavily armoured creatures that ever lived.
Duonychus tsogtbaatari. PIC COURTESY/Masato Hattori
Duonychus tsogtbaatari: A 90-million-year-old fossil found in the Gobi desert was that of a bipedal, herbivorous animal that had only two fingers on each hand, armed with giant claws up to 30 cm long.
Shri rapax fossil. PIC COURTESY/Belgian Institute of Sciences
Shri rapax: The Velociraptor-like Shri rapax, found in the Gobi desert had hands and claws so fierce that its name was inspired by the word rapacious. At two metres in length, the dinosaur may have been one of the most dangerous creatures hunting in the sprawling sand dunes and intermittent lakes when it lived between 75 and 71 million years ago.
Baminornis zhenghensis. PIC COURTESY/ZHAO Chuang
Baminornis zhenghensis: A 150-million-year-old fossil from China, named Baminornis zhenghensis, had researchers baffled about where in the evolutionary tree it belonged. They concluded that the quail-sized creature may be the earliest known bird. The kicker leading to the decision was that it had a much shorter tail than Archaeopteryx, another fossil long considered to be an early relative of modern birds. The discovery shows that the short tails characteristic of modern birds evolved much earlier than previously thought.
Joaquinraptor casali. PIC COURTESY/Andrew McAfee
Joaquinraptor casali: No amount of dental floss would have helped a ferocious 66-million-year-old dinosaur discovered in Patagonia with a crocodile leg stuck in its jaw. Joaquinraptor casali, a new species of megaraptor, was armed with a thumb claw the size of a human forearm and it may have been one of the fiercest predators of the Cretaceous. While Tyrannosaurus rex was probably bigger, the new dinosaur had much stronger and more muscular arms. This specimen of J. casali would have been at least 19 years old when it died, about 7 metres long and weighed at least a tonne.
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