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A newly described duck - billed dinosaur unearthed in Mexico has an epic schnoz to rival that of Yoshi from Super Mario World .
The dino , namedCoahuilasaurus lipaniafter the area where it was found and the Lipani Apache clan that lives there , also has singular tooth - comparable spike heel stick out from the roof of its mouth . These spikes that may have been used to deplete jumpy and arboraceous plants in tropical forest 73 million eld ago .
The tooth-like projections on the bill of Coahuilasuarus may have helped it eat tough plants, such as palm trees.
palaeontologist first unearth the fond skull ofC. lipaniin the 1980s in the Parras Basin but previously described it as another genus . In the new study , print Sept. 1 in the journalDiversity , investigator fill a second looking at at the dodo , which had been housed in the collections at the National Autonomous University of Mexico since its discovery . Newer analytic thinking techniques allowed them to reclassify the fossil . Claudia Serrano , lead source of the work and palaeontologist at Benemérita Escuela Normal de Coahuila , was present during the first description of the specimen in 2006 . " When we started working on the material again , we decided ' no , this is different , ' " Serrano severalise Live Science . " We have become much effective at describe these things . "
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While the partial skull consists only of the dinosaur ’s snout , this section of the skull is useful in identifying the differences between coinage , similar to how a bird ’s schnoz can reveal a luck about the chick as a whole . The sharp slant of the dinosaur ’s snoot was key to differentiatingC. lipanifrom other specie . The scientist also find out the distinct tooth - like extrusion projecting from the roof of the mouth , which had n’t been accentuate in the previous analysis .
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These gibbousness may mean thatC. lipaniwas specialized to eat tough plants like palm that flourished in the tropical condition of the lateCretaceousperiod when the big - nosed dino go , around 73 million twelvemonth ago . Duck - billed dinosaurs , also known as the " cows of the Cretaceous , " would have roamed the forests of Mexico at a metre when sea levels were higher and temperatures were warmer , according to a statement . Serrano estimates they would have been around 26 feet ( 8 meters ) long , or about the sizing of two sedans .
This discovery adds to a spring up leaning of dinosaur that are unparalleled to Mexico , Serrano say . Discoveries like that ofC. lipaniand other Mexico - specific mintage have started to overthrow the assumption that dinosaur species were wide - swan , the study authors indite in their paper . big animals usually have large ranges — that goes for the bison that used to cast from Canada down to Mexico . But alternatively , item-by-item dinosaur species appear to have had comparatively small ranges . Differences in climate , geographical roadblock , or perhaps something about the way dinosaurs reproduce may have lead to their small-scale range , but fossilist still do n’t quite understand why they stuck to one area , Serrano noted .
