Discoveries of the (Dinosaur) Incisivosaurus Gauthier, and (Hominid) Sahelanthropus Tchadensis :: Anthropology Essays Paleontology Papers

Discoveries of the (Dinosaur) Incisivosaurus Gauthier, and (Hominid) Sahelanthropus Tchadensis In the year 2002 a bizarre looking theropod dinosaur fossil was found in China (Xu). It challenges the way researchers have been thinking of theropods and other dinosaurs for a long time. In the Sahara desert, the oldest hominid skull in the world was found that same year. These ar undecomposed two of many discoveries that have challenged the way we perceive the ancient world. Incisivosaurus Gauthier was what is believed to be a primitive Oviraptorosaurian that was recently observe in China. The Theropod and its highly specialise skull is described as a bizarre creature that lived 128 million years ago ( gm). The characteristic that sticks out the most are its rodent-like teething. Harry Gee has described the dinosaur as a cross between Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny (Ibid.) and Hillary Mayell calls it a Weird Bucktoothed Dino. (Mayell)Oviraptorosaurians are known for their special ized skulls and for being egg thieves, which is where they get their name. It was later discovered that they were more than likely near the nests not to eat the eggs but hatch them. In Mongolia there was a discovery of a fossil of a female Oviraptor shielding her nest from a sandstorm (Mayell). They are thought to have evolved in the early Cretaceous (Xu). The Cretaceous period, is the interval of time that came skilful after the most well known of periods in the earths history, the Jurassic. Xing Xu, the man who with his team found Incisivosaurus, works for Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and human paleontology in Beijing, China. Xu and his team believe that this find proves that not all theropods ate meat (Ibid). In an article for the National Geographic, Phillip Currie of the Royal Tyrell Museum of Paleontology in Canada says, These teeth are totally inappropriate for eating meat. Even with the beak, we had always assumed that oviraptorosuars were still carnivoroushawks and eagles do it quite well. But these teeth are teeth you expect to see in an herbivore (Mayell). Researchers believe that Incisivosaurus shows a link between typical theropods and the more rare or at least bizarre Oviraptorosaurians which are more birdlike (Gee). Xu also believes that this may show a link between the Oviraptorosaurians and an herbivorous group of dinosaurs, the Therizinosaurs. Which shows that not all of them were carnivores (Mayell).