Chicken-sized dinosaur had sensory scales on its tail

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A chicken-size dinosaur that lived in what is now Germany about 150 million years ago might have used sensory scales on its tail as it foraged for fish at night. These sensory organs, remarkably similar to those found on a crocodile, likely helped the animal suss out its environment as it waded across the shallow lagoons of a prehistoric archipelago that once covered Europe.

The only known fossil of the species Juravenator starki includes a largely complete skeleton and some preserved soft tissues—with skin around the tail revealing a unique pattern on the scales.

“Skin only rarely preserves in the fossil record, so when we try to imagine living dinosaurs from just bones, details about their external body coverings are often speculative,” says Stephanie Drumheller-Horton of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, who was not involved with the new research. “Soft tissues can really flesh out our interpretations of these groups.”

“Juravenator may have been strictly nocturnal, rendering sensory capabilities that can counteract low light conditions even more essential,” the authors write in the new paper. “To see these things first-hand, and how Juravenator might have interacted with its environment based on its sensory capacity, is thrilling.”

Source: National Geographic

[Guest]

do u think we would kill dinosaurs if they still existed and eat them for barbecues? i always wonder that 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

@gagaschickens  its your lucky day

[papergangster 2,823]

I love dinosaurs 🦖 

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

24 minutes ago, KanyeWest said:

do u think we would kill dinosaurs if they still existed and eat them for barbecues? i always wonder that 

For some dinosaurs...we would be the BBQ 

[trithoraxlike 47]

Chickens are literally dinosaurs