A new discovery in Utah of a burrowing dinosaur species further confirms that these behaviors were more common than previously thought.
When most people think of dinosaurs, they usually imagine towering creatures gilded in spikes and horns—thriving in lush jungles, or basking on the sunny plains. Naturally, this left paleontologists scratching their heads when, in 2007, they discovered the remains of a family of small ornithopods—named—in what seemed like an underground den. The plot of this discovery only thickened upon noticing how bizarrely muscular these dinosaurs’ arms were, as well as their brawny hips.
Only after piecing these findings together did paleontologists truly understand the magnitude of what they’d just uncovered: the first ever evidence of a burrowing dinosaur. The discovery of adept digging, denning dinosaurs forced paleontologists to question everything they knew. However, a more recent discovery of dinosaur remains in Utah (July 2024) has further challenged our long-held views and understandings of dinosaurs—as, much to our surprise, this new species evidently burrowed too. In July 2024, paleontologists working in the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah unearthed a discovery that was all too similar to that of. This site, which falls part of a rich sedimentary layer from the Early Cretaceous period, has long been a hotspot for dinosaur fossils. But, even in a region renowned for its paleontological riches, probably didn’t seem like a groundbreaking find. Measuring between 6 to 7 feet long and weighing around 40 to 50 pounds, it wasn’t a giant predator—nor was it a flamboyantly decorated herbivore. However, a closer inspection of its bones revealed something remarkable, according to the July 2024’s skeleton bore a suite of adaptations that hinted at what was once a highly unique behavior for dinosaurs: digging into the ground
DINOSAURS BURROWING Paleontology Discovery Utah
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