Reanalysis of Fossils Leads to Discovery of Hualianceratops Wucaiwanensis

Researchers after reanalyzing skull fossils found in 2002 found that the 160 million-year-old remains belonged to a previously unknown plant-eating dinosaur named Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis.

Scientists found that remains which they were carrying out digging in China 2002, and thought that it belongs to a small dinosaur. But now reanalysis of the fossils unveiled the real truth associated with the fossils.

Dr. Catherine Forster, a paleontologist at George Washington University and a co-author of the research, said, “It was probably about the size of a spaniel dog, with a relatively large head, and walked on its hind legs. Based on comparisons with closely related species, it probably had a modest size tail, although this was not preserved with the specimen”.

Study researchers said that this is the reconstructed skull of the holotype specimen of Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis. H. wucaiwanensis is one of the oldest known members of a group of dinosaurs known as ceratopsians, which included Triceratops, National Geographic reported.

The newly found dinosaur must have belonged to the group since it had characteristics typically found among ceratopsians, such as a small neck frill and a triangular skull, Forster said.

Analyzing and comparing the H. wucaiwanensis remains to other ceratopsians helped researchers to better understand the early evolution of horned dinosaurs.

Dr. Caleb Brown, a paleobiologist at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Canada, who was not part of the study, told Live Science that these small, early ceratopsians are important because they can tell us about the early evolution of this iconic group.