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South Dakota fossil yields new dinosaur species
Mon May 2,11:16 AM ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A fossil found in South Dakota is that of a never before seen species of dinosaur, a horse-sized plant eater with spikes on its bony flat head, scientists said on Monday.
"When my colleagues saw a CAT scan of the new fossil, they tore up their family tree diagrams and said, 'Back to the drawing board!' ... We never suspected such a creature existed," said paleontologist Robert Bakker.
Discovery of the flat-headed member of the pachycephalosaur family changes the view of dinosaur history during the final days of the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago, showing that family trees were still evolving even as the entire dinosaur world was about to go extinct, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis said in announcing the find.
Dalje
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