New Scientist
Image: Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
A rare baby dinosaur skull – only the size of a rat’s head – confirms Heterodontosaurus as one of the most unusual of all dinosaurs.
The 45-millimetre skull has features characteristic of a juvenile – large “puppy dog” eye sockets, and a snub nose – but it also sports the meat-tearing canine teeth normally associated with adults. The fossil was newly identified after being examined in a South African museum.
Intriguingly, while it has canines at the front of the mouth, it also has molar-like teeth behind – a pattern more often seen in mammals.
“It’s exceptionally rare to see that pattern of teeth in a reptile,” says Richard Butler, a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London.
“Mammals typically have well differentiated canines at front of the jaw and molars at the back,” he says, “but reptiles generally have a single pattern of teeth all along the tooth row.” Read more on newscientist.com…
