Dinosaurs were the monarchs of Earth for 160m years until a space rock collided with the planet 65.5m years ago and wiped out those confined to land. The survivors, which could fly, are the direct ancestor of today’s birds.
An unusual vegetarian dinosaur with the silhouette of a flesh-ripping velociraptor, whose fossilised remains were unearthed in southern Chile 13 years ago, is a missing link in dinosaur evolution, researchers have said.
A revised assessment of the kangaroo-sized Chilesaurus diegosuarezi , reported in the journal Biology Letters, bolsters a theory unveiled earlier this year that threatens to upend a long-standing classification of all dinosaurs.
“Chilesaurus genuinely helps fill an evolutionary gap between two big dinosaur groups,” said co-author Paul Barrett, president of Britain’s Palaeontographical Society and a researcher at the Natural History Museum.
When first presented to the world in 2015, Chilesaurus – despite its penchant for plants – was lumped together with theropods, the suborder of meat-eating dinosaurs that not only includes fleet-footed velociraptors but Tyrannosaurus rex, the ultimate carnivore.
Experts acknowledged at the time, however, that it was an awkward fit. One described the beast as “the most bizarre dinosaur ever found.”
An upright posture, powerful hind legs and foreshortened front limbs were all reminiscent of theropods.
But an inverted, bird-like hip structure and flattened, leaf-shaped teeth – proof of an exclusively vegetal diet – suggested that it also shared traits with another major suborder, the ornithischia.
