'Vampire' dinosaurs in Africa

A small dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago possessed fangs like vampires, parrot-like beaks, and hard hair like porcupines.

Illustrations of dinosaur head and neck "ghost
dragon "recreated from the skull. (Photo: Livescience)

In the 1960s, Harvard University scientists in the United States discovered dinosaur fossil skeletons in Africa, but then no one paid attention to it. Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago in the US, came up with the idea of ​​studying fossils when he saw them in Harvard University, Livescience reported.

Those are the bones of a dinosaur that lived about 200 million years ago. Its two front limbs are capable of holding and grasping, and the latter two have membranes. Its body length is about 60cm, and its body weight is only about 7kg. Scientists call it Pegomastax africanus .

"The tail and neck represent the majority of this dinosaur's body length," Sereno said.

Recently Sereno and colleagues analyzed the body composition of Pegomastax africanus. They noticed that its body was covered with countless hard hair like porcupines. The animal has a parrot-like skull with a beak in the upper jaw. It also has two canines in the upper jaw and two fangs in the lower jaw. Each canine is about 8mm long.

"With those fangs, it looks like a vampire," Sereno commented.

However, the research team believes that Pegomastax africanus does not eat meat or suck blood. The existence of the mine shows that it eats seeds, tubers and fruits. When the dinosaurs shut their mouths, the fangs snuggled into the niches in the opposite jaw.

"" Perhaps four canines do not serve meat-eating activities. Dinosaurs use them to attack enemies, defend themselves and dig up soil to find food, " Sereno said.