The Triceratops the size of a SPANIEL: Miniature relative of horned dinosaurs scampered around on its hind legs 160 million years ago
- Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis was unearthed in Xinjiang Province, China
- It roamed the Earth almost 100 million years before its much larger cousin
- It would have been less than 1.5 feet long (50cm) but was heavily built
- Researchers say it would have walked on two feet rather than four
A new diminutive member of the Triceratops family, the massive armoured dinosaurs with horns on their heads, has been discovered - and it was little bigger than a spaniel.
Scientists found a fossil of the new species of dog-sized herbivore, which they have named Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis, in the Xinjiang Province in Northwest China.
While its cousin the Triceratops was more than 29 feet long (9m) and weighed more than 6 tons (5,500kg), the new species would have been less than 1.5 feet long (50cm).
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A new species of dinosaur (illustrated) related to Triceratops has been discovered in China. It walked the Earth around 160 million years ago but would have been little bigger than a spaniel. Researchers say the minature dinosaur, which lacked the horns of its cousins, would also have walked around on its hind legs
However, palaeontologists behind the discovery say it would have been heavily built with considerable armour plating.
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And perhaps most surprisingly, it would have scampered around on its hind legs - something its lumbering cousins were unable to do.
While the Triceratops lived 67–65 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous period, Hualianceratops would have been long gone, having lived in the Late-Jurassic period, around 160 million years ago.
The new species was discovered by scientists from the George Washington University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The group uncovered the bones in the same fossil beds in Northwest China as another distant relative of the Triceratops, Yinlong downsi, which they discovered in 2002.
However, Yinlong remains the oldest of the 'horned dinosaurs'.
By analysing the fossilised bone fragments, which comprised pieces of the animal's skull and foot, the researchers suggest that a number of lineages of these dinosaurs could have existed at the same time, around 160 million years ago.
Dr Fenglu Han, a postdoctoral student at the China University of Geosciences and lead author of the paper published today in PLOS ONE, said: 'Identifying Hualianceratops allows us to expand the beaked family of dinosaurs (Ceratopsia), which includes popular species like Triceratops and Psittacosaurus.'
Commenting on the findings, Professor Catherine Forster, a biologist at George Washington University and co-author of the paper, said: 'Finding these two species in the same fossil beds reveals there was more diversity there than we previously recognized,'
Professor Forster added: 'It suggests that the ceratopsian dinosaurs already had diversified into at least four lineages by the beginning of the Jurassic Period.'
While Triceratops (pictured) was far bigger, at almost 30 feet (9m) long and weighing in five and a half tons (5,500 Kg), its cousin Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis would have been little more than 1.5 feet (50cm)
Palaeontologists say Hualianceratops wucaiwanensis would have been the same size as a small dog like a spaniel (pictured), but would have been far more heavily built as it carried considerable armour
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