OU paleontologists identify a new species of dinosaur in Tanzania.
Ohio University paleontologists have been digging up history and have uncovered some pieces of the past, according to a press release sent by the university.
The scientists identified a new species of dinosaur in Tanzania by using CT scans which examined fossils. The new discoveries expanded upon previous research.
The new species of Titanosaurian lived during the final stage of the dinosaur age, the press release stated. Titanosaurians were large-bodied sauropods and their fossils have been found worldwide, mainly in South America.
This discovery puts a spotlight on OU in the scientific community because only a few Titanosaurian fossils have been found in Africa.
Scientists found Rukwatitan bisepultus — the new species —in a Rukwa Rift Basin cliff wall in southwestern Tanzania. Coal miners and excavators helped the scientists dig up the fossils that consisted of vertebrae, ribs, limbs and pelvic bones, according to the release.
“Using both traditional and new computational approaches, we were able to place the new species within the family tree of sauropod dinosaurs and determine both its uniqueness as a species and to delineate others species with which it is most closely related,” said lead author Eric Gorscak, a doctoral student in biological sciences at OU, in the release.
Professor in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Nancy Stevens was one of the co-authors on the study.
The study was funded in part by the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine and the OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity.
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