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<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) This graphic shows the newly discovered dinosaur species, Aardonyx celestae, that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Thursday, November 12, 2009 New dinosaur species discovered Associated Press JOHANNESBURG — A newly discovered dinosaur species that roamed the Earth about 200 million years ago may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land, scientists in South Africa said Wednesday. The Aardonyx celestae was a 23-foot-long small-headed herbivore with a huge barrel of a chest. It walked on its hind legs but also could drop to all fours, and scientists said that could prove to be a missing evolutionary link. This is a species “that no one has seen before and one that has a very significant position in the family tree of dinosaurs,” said Australian paleontologist Adam Yates. Yates, who is based at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Bernard Price Institute for Paleontological Research, led the research. The findings were published Wednesday in the Proceedings of The Royal Society B, a London-based peer-reviewed journal. The Aardonyx celestae species dates back to the early Jurassic period. Yates said the creature found in South Africa stood nearly 6 feet high at the hip and weighed about 1,100 pounds. Its death may have been caused by drought. The new species shares many characteristics with the plant-eating herbivores that walked on two legs, Yates said. But it also has similar attributes to dinosaurs known as sauropods, or brontosaurs, that grew to massive sizes and went about on all fours with long necks and whip-like tails. “The discovery of Aardonyx helps to fill a marked gap in our knowledge of sauropod evolution, showing how a primarily two-legged animal could start to acquire the specific features necessary for a life spent on all-fours,” said Paul Barrett, a paleontologist at the British Natural History Museum who assisted on the dig . Why and how dinosaurs grew into such massive creatures is a question that scientists have been trying to answer for a long time. Walking on all fours allowed animals to carry more weight, and size was often their only defense against sharp-toothed carnivores, said one of the report’s co-authors, Matthew Bonnan of Western Illinois University. The discovery was at a site that had been largely ignored by scientists who felt the bone fragments found there would prove to be a common dinosaur species. On the first day of excavation, a bone too large to belong to this ordinary species was found. “We knew we had something new, something very, very exciting,” Yates said. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

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