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'Beach Bum' Dino Chilled in Mex

Posted Feb 13, 08 12:08 PM CST in World,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – A newly discovered duck-billed dinosaur lived on a "very Mediterranean-like" Mexican beach 72 million years ago, paleontologists say. A fossilized skeleton of Velafrons coahuilensis was found in the north-central state of Coahuila—the most complete dinosaur ever found in Mexico, Reuters reports. "Velafrons was probably a beach bum," says one paleontologist. The dino would have been about 30 feet long.

The duckbill's prolonged Cretaceous Period spring break would have had disadvantages, though. "You've got to worry about the tyrannosaurs out there," says an expert. Like many other duckbills, Velafrons had a large crest on its head. "By lengthening its nasal passage, it allowed it to do all sorts of crazy things. It's totally odd and freakish," one scientist said.

Source Reuters

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Velafrons coahuilensis is pictured in this artist's rendering. The crested, duck-billed dinosaur "was probably a beach bum," said paleontologist Terry Gates of the Utah Museum of Natural History and University...   (Wikimedia Commons)
The fossilized skull and jaw bones of a new species of a duck-billed dinosaur are displayed on a table in front of an assembled cast of the pieces during a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, in the...   (Associated Press)
Utah paleontologist Terry Gates holds the bill on a skull replica of a new species of duck-billed dinosaur during a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, in the Utah Museum of Natural History at the...   (Associated Press)
In this image released by the University of Utah on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2008, a 2007 artist rendition of a new species of duck-billed dinosaur is shown in Salt Lake City. The bones of a 72 million-year-old...   (Associated Press)
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