Last twelvemonth , pictures of peradventure the mostwell - preserveddinosaur ever found wowed the world . Now , a scientific description of this valued specimen has been publish , give surprising brainstorm into its behavior . Despite having armor a rhino would envy , even this mighty beast hid from the fearsome predators of the early Cretaceous .
When the exceptional fossil was announced last class , the public was state it was a 110 - million - twelvemonth - oldnodosaur , which like other Ankylosauria were known for their big armour . However , as a previously unknown metal money and genus , the scientific description took longer . Now , the details ofBorealopelta markmitchelli , as the animate being has been named , have been published inCurrent Biology , along with some let out insight into its lifestyle .
" This nodosaur is truly singular in that it is completely covered in preserved scaly skin , yet is also preserved in three dimension , retaining the original shape of the animal , " saidDr Caleb Brownof the Royal Tyrrell Museum in astatement . " The result is that the creature looks almost the same today as it did back in the Early Cretaceous . You do n’t involve to practice much resource to rebuild it ; if you just squinch your centre a bit , you could almost trust it was sleeping … It will go down in skill history as one of the most beautiful and good keep dinosaur specimens – the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs . "
The scale are so well preserve that palaeontologist were able to pull up organic compounds from them and canvass these to establish the dinosaur ’s coloring . This disclose a reddish brown pigmentation and countershading that would have helped it hide in shaded environment . Countershading is coarse among species modest enough to be vulnerable to predators , but rarified among mid - sized mammals and nameless today for adults weighing more than a MT . B. markmitchelliwas 5.5 meters ( 18 foot ) long and weighed 1.3 t ( 2,800 pounds ) .
Ambush predators may also find camouflage utilitarian , butB. marchmitchelliwas an herbivore . Instead , it must have survive in reverence of therapod dinosaur capable of bite through its bony armor .
on occasion , however , B. marchmitchelliwanted to show off , perhaps to attract mates or warn rivals , as one of its spines was calorie-free colored , apparently to utilize in display .
Borealopelta intend northern shield , reflecting the dinosaur ’s location and armor . Mark Mitchell was honored in credit of having spent more than 7,000 hours extracting the fossil from the rocks in which it was case and groom it for study . The superb preservation reflects the fact that even thoughB. markmitchellilived on country , it was swept out to ocean after last and promptly handle in aqueous layers in a low-toned - oxygen environment , preserving it from scavenge and speedily turning the carcass to stone .
