New Fanged Tiny African Dinosaur Discovered

With short parrot-shaped beak up front, a tiny 1 inch long jaw, a pair of sharp canines, and tall teeth tucked behind for slicing plants, a new species of plant eater dinosaur was traced in South Africa.

Discovered from the red rock in southern Africa and discovered in a collection of fossils at Harvard University this herbivore is a collection of the peculiar, tiny, fanged plant eaters known as heterodontosaurs, or "different toothed reptiles". They were the first dinosaur to spread across the planet.

This was led by Paul Sereno, paleontologist and professor at the University of Chicago and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence.

Details of the dinosaur's anatomy and lifestyle are part of a monograph by Sereno and published in the online journal Zookeys.

The tall teeth in upper and lower jaws of the newly traced specie known as Pegomastax africanus or "thick jaw from Africa", works like a sharp scissor. The parrot-shaped skull, less than three inches long, may have been adapted to plucking fruit.

"Very rare," admits Sereno, "that a plant-eater like Pegomastax would sport sharp-edged, enlarged canines." Seems like consuming meat or at the least insects was a good part of the diet of heterodontosaurs,

According to Sereno, self-defense and competitive sparring for mates was their role. The body of Pegomastax was mostly covered with a bristle which was less than two feet in length. These bristles first came to light in a similar-sized heterodontosaur, Tianyulong, discovered recently in China.

Although virtually unknown as, "Pegomastax and kin were the most advanced plant-eaters of their day."

According to Discovery News, Hans-Dieter Sues, a senior research geologist and curator of vertebrate paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History, agrees Pegomastax was a highly specialized plant-eating dinosaur.

"Of course, it is always important to remember that most plant-eaters will occasionally avail themselves of animal protein to meet metabolic needs," Sues ws quoted in Discovery News. "Pegomastax belongs to a group of distinctive, small bird-hipped dinosaurs that appeared surprisingly early in the evolutionary history of dinosaurs."