Dinosaur 'had teeth like Bugs Bunny'
Derek
Scientists say a dinosaur relative of Tyrannosaurus Rex appears to have more
in common with Bugs Bunny.
The strange creature stood on two legs, as did the ferocious predator. But
instead of rows of razor-sharp flesh-ripping teeth, it sported a pair of
large rabbit-like incisors.
Incisivosaurus was a small dinosaur, with a head 10 cms long, which lived
128 million years ago.
Scientist found its fossil in Liaoning, north-east China, in a region that
has already turned up many unusual finds, including feathered dinosaurs.
The creature, described in the journal Nature, belongs to a family known as
oviraptors. These were small two-legged dinosaurs with parrot beaks
distantly related to carnivores such as velociraptor and T. Rex.
But Incisivosaurus, the oldest oviraptor found, lacked the bird-like
features of its relatives.
In place of a beak it had a pair of long jaws filled with peg-shaped teeth
made for grinding, similar to those of giant herbivores such as
Brontosaurus.
But its most outstanding feature was two buck teeth at the front, which are
reminiscent of rabbits and rodents and could be designed for gnawing.
Dinosaur expert Xing Xu and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences
in Beijing believe the teeth imply that Incisivosaurus was vegetarian.
Joshua Smith, from Washington University in St Louis, said: "The classic
view of predatory dinosaur teeth is that they are all basically the same and
are shaped more or less like serrated steak knives."