Hadrosaurid is rare, primitive duck-billed dinosaur
Q. Researchers have identified and named an 83-million-years-old species of a rare, primitive duck-billed dinosaur as- Published on 27 Jan 16a. Hydrosaurid
b. Hadrosaurid
c. Platosaurid
d. Platobillosaurus
ANSWER: Hadrosaurid
Researchers have identified and named an 83-million-years-old species of a rare, primitive duck-billed dinosaur, after studying its fossils discovered in the eastern United States. This new discovery also shows that duck-billed dinosaurs originated in the eastern US, what was then broadly referred to as Appalachia, before dispersing to other parts of the world. The researchers have named the new dinosaur Eotrachodon orientalis , which means “dawn rough tooth from the East.” This duck-billed dinosaur — also known as a Hadrosaurid — was probably 20 to 30 feet long as an adult and mostly walked on its hind legs, though it could come down on all four to graze on plants with its grinding teeth and had a scaly exterior. A large crest on the nose, plus indentations found in the skull and its unique teeth alerted the researchers from McWane Science Centre in US and the University of Bristol in UK that the skeleton they had was something special. The skeletal remains of this rare dinosaur were originally found by a team of amateur fossil enthusiasts alongside a creek in Alabama in marine sediment. The dinosaur likely was washed out to sea by river or stream sediments after it died.
