Apr 04, 2019 07:00:00

Scientists challenge the puzzle of rebuilding a 'living figure' from the bones of dinosaurs

by

Zissoudisctrucker

The fossils of completely intact tyrannosaurus bones have not been found so far, but as of 2019, researchers understand 'what is the complete tyrannosaurus?'. The history of paleontology that began in the 1900s is published on YouTube, which is why researchers can assemble tyrannosaurus bones.

How scientists solved this dinosaur puzzle-YouTube


In 1908, a paleontologist in the state of Montana in the United States discovered a fossil of a carnivorous dinosaur bone with sharp teeth.

At that time, this fossil was one of the largest found in the past.

The researchers named the dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex.

The discovered Tyrannosaurus Rex is exhibited at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as of 2019.

However, not all the bones displayed are actually real. Only the majority of the skull, tail, thorax and vertebrae were discovered in 1908.

Other bones are artificially made. The skull is displayed separately from the body, so all red parts in the image below are artificial bones.

When paleontologists discover dinosaur fossils, they are rarely found in perfect condition. The big question is how to fill in the missing parts of this 'fossil' puzzle.

In the 1900s, when dinosaur fossils began to be excavated, researchers at the time who still had many mysteries had to make guesses. First of all, where was the correct bone position? That means.

This question has been a great help in referring to existing creatures.

'That feature of chickens and other creatures was used as a reference for estimating the bone position of Tyrannosaurus Rex,' said Mark Nore, a paleontologist and curator at the American Museum of Natural History.

For example, the Tyrannosaurus Rex has three toes, all of which point forward. This is the same as chicken characteristics.

I have an S-shaped neck ...

The spine is horizontal to the ground.

Tyrannosaurus Rex also lacks a forearm and a hind leg. The researchers considered the Tyrannosaurus Rex to be a species close to

Allosaurus based on the existing skeleton, and decided to create the Tyrannosaurus Rex forearm and back leg based on Allosaurus fossils.

Later, the forearm and hindlimb bones of the Tyrannosaurus Rex were found, and the American Museum of Natural History was replaced with a replica of it, but in fact the Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex bones look quite similar understood.

However, such guesses are not always correct. In the case of long-necked

Apatosaurus , guessing was quite different from the correct answer.

When Apatosaurus was discovered, the skull was missing.

At this time, the skull of missing Apatosaurus is '

Camarasaurus was made with speculation that close to.' The two types of dinosaurs are quite different in classification, and the Kamalasaurus is characterized by its height from the top of the head to the chin.

The Apatosaurus who got the Kamalasaurus skull was then called

Brontosaurus at the time.

But in the 1970s, it turned out that the skull was wrong, and a more accurate skull was given, and Brontosaurus was changed to Apatosaurus.

Although many mistakes have been included in the past, in 2019, museum exhibitions will be accurate with a probability of 99 to 100%, with fewer parts requiring 'guess'.

This is because paleontologists in the field of dinosaurs are increasing, and fossils are discovered once a week.

As the number of dinosaur fossils excavated increases, it has become possible to accurately reproduce its appearance.

Even if a perfect figure of Tyrannosaurus Rex has not been found, much information has made it possible to create the form of the Tyrannosaurus Rex bone.

'Thirty years ago, when I first took up this position, only 10 Tyrannosaurus Rex were found, but now 46 have been found,' says Nore. If all 46 bones are put together, it is possible to create one 'finished drawing'.

The 'Soo' Tyrannosaurus Rex, exhibited at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, is one of the best preserved fossils with over 90% bone remaining.

Researchers scan Su's left foot ...

Based on that, I created the same size right foot. Even with the development of this kind of technology, the situation of “mistaking the head of a dinosaur” is unlikely to occur in recent years.

The question of the researchers is 'What kind of skeleton did you have?' So, 'How was it working?' 'How was it growing?' 'How was it living? It has moved to the point.

Paleontologists are working with neuroscientists, materials engineers and engineers to solve these mysteries. This initiative was unthinkable 30 years ago.

Nore and his team are currently working on a project to rebuild Tyrannosaurus Rex's 'more alive' full model than ever before.

The exhibition of fossils is not merely boasting of 'discovery', 'How did humanity discover fossils?' 'What kind of creatures were walking on the earth hundreds of years ago?' Talk about the 'story'. That's why it's important to gather and rebuild bones, not just what they are discovered, Nore said.