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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40890714 [bbc.com]

Scientists have solved the puzzle of the so-called "Frankenstein dinosaur", which seems to consist of body parts from unrelated species. A new study suggests that it is in fact the missing link between plant-eating dinosaurs, such as Stegosaurus, and carnivorous dinosaurs, like T. rex. The finding provides fresh insight on the evolution of the group of dinos known as the ornithischians. The study is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters [royalsocietypublishing.org] [open, DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2017.0220] [DX [doi.org]].

[...] The Frankenstein dinosaur, more properly called Chilesaurus, puzzled experts when it was first discovered two years ago. It had the legs of an animal like a Brontosaurus, the hips of a Stegosaurus, and the arms and body of an animal like Tyrannosaurus rex. Scientists simply did not know where it fitted in the dino family tree. In the currently accepted family tree, the ornithischian group was always thought to be completely unrelated to all of the other dinosaurs. Palaeontologists regarded these creatures as an odd-ball group. But a reassessment by Mr Baron published in March [bbc.co.uk] in the journal Nature [nature.com] [DOI: 10.1038/nature21700] [DX [doi.org]] indicated that ornithischians were more closely related to the meat-eaters, such as T.rex, than previously thought.

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