A new type of dinosaur has been discovered in Utah, and artists have already provided an insight into how the newly unearthed species might have looked like back in its day.
Scientific illustration of Akainacephalus johnsoni by Andrey Atuchin @AndreyAtuchin pic.twitter.com/0kOitgiAsL
— NHMU (@NHMU) July 19, 2018
Initially found around a decade ago in Utah, as ABC points out, paleontologists have just managed to fully research and unearth the remains. It's estimated that the complete skeleton was about 76 million years old. The four-legged, five-metre long dinosaur had spiked armor and a bony tail. The dinosaur has been given the name 'Akainacephalus johnsoni,' and was partially named after museum volunteer Randy Johnson, who helped prepare the skull.
At 76 million years old, Akainacephalus is one of the oldest ankylosaurids discovered in western North America. #BLMutah #BLMpaleo
— NHMU (@NHMU) July 19, 2018
Akainacephalus johnsoni is a brand new species and genus of ankylosaurid #dinosaur that lived 76 million years ago. It stood about 3 feet 6 inches tall and stretched between 13 and 16 feet long. @BBCScienceNews #BLMutah #BLMpaleo
— NHMU (@NHMU) July 19, 2018
Akainacephalus johnsoni provides valuable new insights suggesting multiple ankylosaurid emigration events from Asia to Laramidia during the Late Cretaceous. #BLMutah #BLMpaleo
— NHMU (@NHMU) July 19, 2018
Though the dinosaur was discovered in Utah, it used to reside in the lost continent of Laramidia, which encompassed the western side of what is now called North America during the Late Cretaceous period.
A time lapse of the installation of the new Akainacephalus johnsoni mount in the Past Worlds exhibit at @NHMU. This armored #dinosaur was discovered in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in 2008 and was just unveiled at the museum yesterday! #FossilFriday pic.twitter.com/zZowY7nXIg
— NHMU (@NHMU) July 20, 2018
Jelle Wiersma, a PhD candidate at James Cook University in Townsville who was the lead author of the article that describes and names the herbivore, explained, "We knew we had an Ankylosaur dinosaur [when it was discovered] but we didn't really know what it's head looked like … it was pointing face down." For those interested, a reconstructed skeleton of the dinosaur is on display at the Natural History Museum of Utah.
