Mei Long, a sleeping dinosaur

2005/01/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

In China is the fossil of a sleeping dinosaur. The 53-centimeter long dinosaur lived some 140 million years ago. According to experts, the attitude of the fossil is very similar to that of current birds to sleep.

Compared to other fossils, the attitude of the Mei Long dinosaur is rare. In fact, found dinosaur fossils do not generally adopt normal life attitudes. In this case Mei Long died while sleeping. It seems that the dinosaur was buried alive by an eruption, as it was found in sediments filled with volcanic ash. However, there is a second hypothesis that experts consider that the dinosaur died poisoned by a carbon monoxide emission.

The attitude of the fossil is very similar to that of today's sleeping birds. Therefore, scientists have concluded that both could have the same ancestor. Moreover, the attitude of the dinosaur could indicate that it was a warm-blooded animal. In fact, today's birds usually hide their heads under a hillside to keep them warm. Perhaps Mei Long was doing the same at the time of his death.