As amazing advancements in the field of paleontology occur, so too does our understanding of what dinosaurs really were like.
Gone are the hulking, lumbering, lizard-esque land monsters, replaced by more waif-like, feathered, bird-type things.
Now, the latest model will blow you away, because it is by far the most accurate rendering of a dinosaur ever.
It comes from a fossil of a Psittacosaurus unearthed in China by paleontologists at the University of Bristol.
The Psittacosaurus specimen Vinther’s team studied is held at the Senkenberg Museum in Frankfurt. It is a complete skeleton from one of the world’s best preserved fossil deposits in China. Named the Jehol Biota, these deposits are a Lagerstätte, from the German for storage place: they are literally a rocky safehouse for the world’s most well-preserved fossils. There are a handful of Lagerstätte around the world, famed for yielding remains that retain their fossilised soft tissues, feathers, fur, skin and stomach contents. The Senckenburg Psittacosaurus is an exceptional example, even having its cloaca preserved – the multi-purpose opening for excretion, reproduction and urination.
They even found its shitpissfuck hole. I didn’t even know dinosaurs had a shitpissfuckhole. That’s disgusting.
Anyway, using this, paleoartist Bob Nicholls made what is believed to be the most realistic model of a dinosaur ever.
There you have it, dudes. That’s what a dinosaur looks like.
Kinda stupid, if you ask me. It’s about the size of a turkey, and honestly, I would have no problem kicking it if I saw it in the wild.
With my foot.
[Via The Guardian]