The palaeontologists are enjoying some remarkable discoveries about the first inhabitants of the planet. At the start of this year, a San Diego researchers found feather fossil of a ‘dancing dragon,’ living around 120 million years ago in China’s Jehol Province. Now a Melbourne University volunteer has identified a rare toothless dinosaur. The discovery led Swinburne University palaeontologists identifying the reptile known as an elaphrosaur. It roamed Australia around 110 million years ago. The 5cm-long bone unearthed in Victoria gave this significant insight to the researchers, and they cannot wait for the ongoing pandemic to end, so that they could study more about the species. 'Dancing Dragon' Feather Dinosaur Fossil Living 120 Million Years Ago Uncovered in China. 

According to reports, the dinosaur bone was founded by volunteer Jessica Parker in 2015 near Cape Otway in Victoria on a site called Eric the Red West. The place houses fossils from the Cretaceous age. The bone was identified at the Melbourne Museum as a vertebra, and it was thought to be from a flying reptile, called pterosaur, the researchers wrote in the study. However, it was quite different from the other flying dinosaur. When Swinburne University palaeontologists Dr Stephen Poropat and PhD candidates Adele Pentland began their work to understand what type of pterosaur it was, they found something unusual. New Species of 'Sexy Dinosaurs' From 140 Million Years Ago Discovered in Patagonia. 

“Pterosaur neck vertebrae are very distinctive,” Pentland was quoted saying in the study. “In all known pterosaurs, the body of the vertebra has a socket at the head end, and a ball or condyle at the body end. This vertebra had sockets at both ends, so it could not have been from a pterosaur,” she added. After thorough research, they came to a startling conclusion. “We soon realised that the neck bone we were studying was from a theropod: a meat-eating dinosaur, related to Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, and modern birds,” said Dr Poropat. “The only catch – this ‘meat-eating dinosaur’ probably didn’t eat meat!” he said further.

The fossil matched the vertebrae of elaphrosaurs, also called ‘light-footed lizards.’ Its known relatives were discovered in Tanzania and China, who lived during the end of the Jurassic Period, 160 to 145 million years ago. Again, the Victorian dinosaur dated from the Early Cretaceous Period, nearly 40 million years later. “Elaphrosaurs had long necks, stumpy arms with small hands, and relatively lightly built bodies,” Dr Poropat explained.

“The few known skulls of elaphrosaurs show that the youngsters had teeth, but that the adults lost their teeth and replaced them with a horny beak. We don't know if this is true for the Victorian elaphrosaur yet — but we might find out if we ever discover a skull,” he added.

The palaeontologists have a lot more to study about the rare elaphrosaur. The site in Cape Otway awaits further exploration. The proposed digs this year have been postponed twice because of the bushfire and COVID-19 pandemic. Whenever the pandemic is over, researchers hope to unearth more fossils.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2020 09:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).