Australia: Fossils of new turkey-sized dinosaur found in 113-million-year-old rocks of Victoria

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Fossils of new turkey-sized dinosaur found in Victoria
Fossils of new turkey-sized dinosaur found in Victoria

New Delhi : The scientists have discovered fossils of a two-legged, turkey-sized, plant-eating dinosaur in sandstone cliffs at Cape Otway. It is believed that they were swept away by a major powerful ancient river.

Palaeontologists said the partial skeleton of the previously unknown creature, named Diluvicursor pickeringi, lived about 113 million years ago. It has been learned that the fossils belong to the era when dinosaurs used to live in Australia during the Cretaceous Period, when the continent was still connected to Antarctica.

“Skeletons of dinosaurs from Australia are very rare,” said University of Queensland palaeontologist Matthew Herne.

It is the 19th dinosaur species found in Australia. Majority of the fossil remains has been found among a jumbled collection of large fossilised tree trunks also apparently swept down the river during a flood.

The scientists speculate that the species should be around 2.3 metres long including a lengthy tail, had a small head, slender neck and ran on two legs. They have aptly named the species as Diluvicursor (‘flood runner’).