Carnotaurus was an oddity among dinosaur , with strange horns and tiny forelimbs that made evenT. rex’slook utile . However , its breakthrough came with something that could shed light on many other carnivorous dinosaurs – fossilized tegument . It ’s require a surprisingly foresightful time for this pelt to get the analysis such an strange discovery deserves , but now it has finally happened .
In 1984 a remarkable skeleton wasdiscoveredin Chubut Province , Patagonia . The raw species of therapod was namedCarnotaurus sastrei , ( Sastre ’s meat - eating bull after the farm ’s owner ) representing a genus with some distinctive features . However , the most singular part of the specimen was well the best - preserve therapod skin ever see .
Surprisingly , field of this pelt have been very incomplete . Dr Christophe Hendrickxof Unidad Ejecutora Lillo andDr Phil Bellof the University of New England ( Australia ) have correct this inCretaceous Research .
“ By looking at the pelt from the shoulders , paunch and tail region , we discovered that the tegument of this dinosaur was more various than previously thought , consisting of large and randomly distribute conelike studs surrounded by a connection of small elongate , baseball field - shaped or subcircular scale , ” Hendrickx said in astatement .
“ wayward to former interpretations , the feature film scales are randomly distributed and neither organize discrete rows nor show reformist variations in their size along parts of the body , ” the source add .
Bell notice the law of similarity to Australia’sthorny devil , but the evolutionary benefits may not be the same .
At 8 metre ( 26 feet ) long and perchance the largest carnivore in its environment , Carnotaurus plausibly did n’t need the scales to protect against predators , although battles with its own kind are a different matter . The typical horn is thought to have been used in mating battles .
However , the authors think the peel “ May have played a vital role in thermoregulation , ” give how laborious creatures this big find throw off excess heat , rather than being purely protective .
Previous researchhas shown Carnotaurus was an exceptionally fast offset thanks to sinew that confiscate its caudofemoralis muscle , used for flex the nates , to its leg . This would have contribute it extra acceleration exponent , at the disbursal ofhindering its content to turn . Carnotaurus made full utilisation of this , make grow the largest caudofemoralis muscleman of any animal ever identified .
The discoverysome dinosaurswerefeatheredset off a round of surmise that featherswere universalin the Cretaceous , but Carnotaurus shows there were plenty of scaly monsters as well .
Thirty - seven years later , no other Carnotaurus fossil has been found , so it is just as well this one is so wonderfully preserved .
