Newly Identified Cat-Sized Dinosaur Had Beak, Fangs, & Quills

Pegomastax africanus

photo via Tyler Keillor

A study released today has identified a new species of dinosaur: Pegomastax africanus (“thick jaw from Africa”), a cat-sized heterodontosaur with a parrot-like beak, fangs, and porcupine-like quills. The dinosaur’s fossil was recovered in the early 1960s in South Africa, but it was not until now that paleontologist Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago was able to identify it.

Pegomastax africanus

image by Todd Marshall

via The New York Times

E.D.W. Lynch
E.D.W. Lynch

Writer and humor generalist on the Internet and on Facebook.