Scientists were wrong for 100 years, and now they have found out who owns the ancient bones

Paleontologists from the Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment in Tübingen

university discovered hitherto unknowngenus and species of dinosaurs. The individual known as Tuebingosaurus maierfritzorum lived between 203 and 211 million years ago in the region now known as the Swabian Alb and was a herbivore. The new species bears similarities to large, long-necked dinosaurs called sauropods. It was identified during a re-examination of already known dinosaur bones.

Comparison of dinosaur and human sizes. The bones that scientists studied are marked in white.
Credit: Omar Rafael Regalado Fernandez/Ingmar Werneburg

Fossils that are partPaleontological collection of Tübingen, previously identified as the remains of Plateosaurs. Now scientists Omar Rafael Regalado Fernandez and Ingmar Werneburg have reexamined the bones. Most of the fossils were found in a quarry near Trossingen on the outskirts of the Swabian Alb. Plateosaurs have been found there since the 19th century.

This group of dinosaurs was very common insome parts of Europe about 200 million years ago. However, modern paleontologists are well aware that taxonomic classification in the past was often inaccurate and hasty (especially given the specifics of the region).

The presumed death of the dinosaur. Photo: Marcus Burkhardt

During the reanalysis, the researchers found thatmany dinosaur bones are not the same as those of typical plateosaurs. For example, he has wider and stronger hips with fused sacral vertebrae, as well as unusually large and strong long bones. All of this involved four-legged locomotion, which is nothing like plateosaurids. Although they resembled long-necked sauropods, they moved only on two legs.

After careful comparison of all anatomicalcharacteristics, scientists reclassified the partial skeleton from Trossingen and determined that they had discovered a previously unknown species and genus. It is very likely that Tuebingosaurus maierfritzorum was a quadruped and is therefore much more closely related to later large sauropods such as Brachiosaurus or Diplodocus.

Remains of a new species: Valentin Marquardt/University of Tübingen

Surrounding sedimentary rocks and bone preservationindicate that this tubingosaurus drowned in a swamp and died. The bones on the left side of the body were probably on the surface and exposed to the elements for several years.

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Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons