Tethyshadros is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, around 81.5 to 80.5 million years ago, in what is now Italy.
This dinosaur belongs to a group called hadrosauroids, which are often known as “duck-billed dinosaurs” because of their flat, broad snouts. The full name of this dinosaur is Tethyshadros insularis. Tethyshadros is particularly special because it is the oldest hadrosaur found in Europe and one of the most complete dinosaur skeletons discovered on the continent since the 1800s.
Discovery
Tethyshadros was discovered in a quarry near Trieste, Italy. In the 1980s, some fossil bones were found, but the significant discovery happened in 1994 when a nearly complete hadrosaur skeleton was unearthed. Extracting the skeleton was a big challenge, as it was trapped in hard rock, which required heavy machinery to remove.
The excavation took several years and finally, in 1999, the main skeleton was extracted. Once safely removed from the rock, the fossil underwent a lengthy preparation process, taking about 2800 hours. This involved carefully cleaning and preserving the bones before they were displayed in a museum in Trieste in 2000, where the skeleton received a nickname: “Antonio.”
In 2009, a scientist named Fabio Dalla Vecchia officially named the dinosaur Tethyshadros. The name combines “Tethys,” referring to the ancient ocean it lived by, and “hadrosauroid,” indicating its family ties.
Features
Tethyshadros was about 4.5 meters long, which is equivalent to about 15 feet. It was thought to be small for a hadrosaur, with its estimated weight around 338 kilograms (about 745 pounds). Another skeleton found, nicknamed “Bruno,” was larger and had some different features that indicated it was an adult dinosaur.
This dinosaur had several unique characteristics. It had a beak and three-toed feet, which are typical traits of hadrosauroids. However, Tethyshadros displayed a mix of older and newer traits. It had features reminiscent of earlier dinosaurs, while also having some qualities typical of more advanced hadrosaurids.
The mixture of traits suggests that Tethyshadros lived during a time when dinosaurs were evolving. This dinosaur helps scientists understand the transition of features in the hadrosaur family.
Classification and Relationships
Tethyshadros is part of a larger group called Hadrosauromorpha, which includes many similar dinosaurs. Research indicates that Tethyshadros may be closely related to a genus called Telmatosaurus and that it is one of the last surviving non-hadrosaurid hadrosauromorphs.
In summary, Tethyshadros is an important dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period in Europe, providing valuable insights into the evolution of hadrosaur dinosaurs. Its discovery offers a glimpse into a world that existed millions of years ago.