Univ. Of Chicago Paleontologist Identifies New Cat-Sized Dinosaur Species

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Oct 4, 2012 7:00PM

University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno has identified a newly discovered species of dinosaur called the heterodontosaur, and it took 50 years to sort it out.

Meaning "different toothed reptiles," the heterodontosaur was a dwarf herbivore, measuring less than two feet long and probably weighing less than a cat, Sereno says.

The heterodontosaur's teeth were a point of contention for scientists. It had a beak-like mouth with sharp-edged canines, which led some to say it may have consumed meat or insects. Sereno contends the heterodontosaur was an herbivore that had the teeth for self defense and perhaps the beak was evolved for consuming fruit.

The fossil was discovered in a slab of red rock from South Africa in 1960s. Sereno said when he first saw the fossil, he could tell it was a distinct species, and he called it the Pegomastax africanus, "thick jaw from Africa." Similar fossils have been found in England and China, but it wasn't until Sereno published his research in the journal ZooKeys that the heterodontosaur went public.

“I’m embarrassed to say how many years ago that was — 1983,” he said. “But I was an enterprising graduate student then at the American Museum of Natural History. All the while since then, I wondered if anyone else might spot the creature hiding among the lab drawers.”

Sereno stipulates the heterodontosaur lived from the late Triassic to the early Cretaceous time.

Another possible characteristic of the new species, Dr. Sereno said, is that its body might have been covered in quills, something like those of a porcupine. If so, he pictured that in life Pegomastax would have scampered around in search of suitable plants, looking something like a “nimble two-legged porcupine.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/science/new-bizarre-species-of-small-dinosaur-identified.html?_r=1