New Psittacosaurus species

The new dinosaur, Psittacosaurus gobiensis, resembled a modern parrot on steroids, but it was likely not a close relative.

"Psittacosaurus discovered the delights of nut eating 110 million years ago, at least 60 million years before the first parrot arrived," lead author a Paul Sereno told Discovery News.

Sereno, a University of Chicago paleontologist, with colleagues Zhao Xijin and Tan Lin analyzed the remains of the parrot-like dinosaur, which was first unearthed in the western Gobi Desert of inner Mongolia back in 1922. The fossils represent the first and most complete dinosaur excavated in that region at the time.

Sereno and his team, whose findings are published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B, not only identified the new species, but they were also able to determine how, and what, it ate.

Analysis of its skull shows it had reinforcements and "enhanced attachment areas for powerful jaw muscles," as today's parrots do around their beaks. These clues, along with visible tooth wear, allowed the scientists to figure out how the dinosaur bit down on its food.

"Parrot-beaked dinosaurs chewed by sliding their lower jaw forward and then drawing it upward and backward against its upper teeth -- very unusual," said Sereno. "The vast majority of reptiles either just clamp the jaws shut or slide them forward and backward to grind."

No time to comment, but I know most of my readers love the paleo stuff. However, I doubt that this was 60 million years old. (oops!)