New Dino Discovery Changed Our Idea of Evolution

Bright Side

A newly discovered dinosaur with only two claws has just flipped paleontology on its head, and scientists are scrambling to understand what it means for evolution. In this video, we’ll explore this strange creature, why its anatomy is so unexpected, and how it challenges long-held ideas about how predatory dinosaurs developed over time. You’ll learn what makes this animal so different from its relatives and why its existence forces experts to rewrite several evolutionary branches. Some researchers say this dinosaur shouldn’t even exist — yet here it is, reshaping the story of life on Earth. We’ll break down the discovery, the fossils, and all the bizarre details that make this one of the most exciting finds in years. Get ready to meet the dinosaur that changed everything.  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00Hey, welcome to the Dino New Year's Party.

00:04Hey, everyone you know well is here.

00:07Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Raptor, Diplodocus.

00:16But there will also be someone new, a guest who will surprise you.

00:21You see, paleontologists have discovered a new dinosaur species that was somewhat like the T-Rex, but with a twist.

00:27These guys would rather eat a crunchy salad than a juicy steak.

00:32Hey, meet this dude.

00:34Any guesses on how to pronounce this?

00:36Duonychus sacubatric.

00:38Thanks, please hold your applause.

00:40These are herbivorous guys that belong to the Therizinosaurus.

00:44But they had one awesome feature.

00:47A feature that showed scientists that Duonychus belonged to a new branch of dinosaur evolution, about which little is known.

00:54But hey, let's go back to the Dino Party, shall we?

00:58Here, you can see dinosaurs with different personalities.

01:01The T-Rex is a bully and toothy.

01:05The Velociraptor seems to be very toxic and moody.

01:09The Triceratops, or Stegosaurus, are aggressive but silent.

01:14You know, like those guys that don't touch anyone, but it's better not to mess with them.

01:19So among them all, the Therizinosaurus is a chill guy that will always help, will always keep you company at a party, and will never be annoying.

01:28Therizinosaurus lived in what is now Asia and North America during the late Cretaceous period, about 100 to 66 million years ago.

01:38Their anatomical features made them look more like predators, like the T-Rex.

01:42But Therizinosaurus were herbivores, with large crescent-shaped claws.

01:49In some species, they reached up to 20 inches.

01:52Now imagine how dangerous these monsters would have been, had they been carnivorous.

01:56But they used their claws to grab tree branches and eat leaves.

02:01The Duonychus was quite large, just under 10 feet in length.

02:05A hippo was about the same size.

02:07And their weight was about 600 pounds, which is almost half the size of a horse.

02:13Therizinosaurus had a long mouth, a bit like a duck's nose, and long front paws with three thumbs.

02:20But the Duonychus, that has been found recently, was unique because it only had two fingers on each hand.

02:27The two-fingered dinosaur discovery has sparked joy among paleontologists.

02:32Okay, two fingers instead of three.

02:34Whatever, you might think.

02:36But it makes a big difference.

02:38It shows how dinosaurs evolved.

02:40The latest paleontology news reports that the discovery was made in Mongolia.

02:46It was the largest preserved claw in history.

02:49Its size was about 11 inches, and it had a curved shape.

02:53That means it was like a giant banana.

02:55The coolest thing was that the claw was covered with keratin.

03:00Our nails are made from this material, too.

03:02Can you imagine?

03:03Large lizards that lived tens of millions of years ago had claws with the same composition as our nails.

03:10Nature is amazing, isn't it?

03:12Do you know this crazy theory that the T. rex evolved into a chicken and the velociraptor into an ostrich?

03:20There must have been tons of evolutionary changes.

03:23But the two-fingered dinosaur discovery offers us a more understandable and more detailed explanation of how dinosaurs evolved.

03:31Pterosinosaurs had three clawed fingers on each paw.

03:36But why did nature get rid of one of them?

03:39Scientists believe that it was practical.

03:41It's possible that a paw with two fingers was much stronger and more flexible than a paw with three.

03:47This way, dinosaurs could grab vegetation and branches, like chameleons do.

03:52Scientists have also suggested that the two-fingered long paw helped the dinosaur defend itself, care for its mates, and even play.

04:01It's hard to imagine what they could be playing at.

04:04Maybe they did high fives, or high twos.

04:07It would be cool if they had used those paw pliers not only for taking food, but for fighting off predators.

04:13Then, speaking of predators, the T. rex had a similar front paw structure, but its small paws were useless.

04:21It would be cool if the Duonychus could box with them or climb trees.

04:26Yes, it was an herbivore, but that doesn't mean that other bad dinosaurs could bully it.

04:31Let's just think that the Duonychus was kind of weak and formidable to the strong.

04:36That's why it would be the most welcome guest at the dinosaur party.

04:39But the strangest guest at this party would be the Dino Chiris, named Terrible Hands.

04:47The case of the Duonychus shows how dinosaurs evolved from having three-fingered paws to being two-fingered.

04:54The Dino Chiris shows that ancient lizards could evolve into a horse or something else.

05:01It sounds weird, but let's get to know this guy better.

05:03In 1965, the arms, hands, and shoulder girdle of an unknown dinosaur was discovered in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

05:13When paleontologists put the bones together, they got two long, creepy arms.

05:18For many years, those arms remained in the museum without a body.

05:22It looked funny and a little scary.

05:25Each arm was about 8 feet long.

05:28This is more than the tallest basketball players.

05:30Paleontologists were trying to find other dinosaur body parts in the Gobi Desert, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

05:38The Dino Chiris became one of the most famous mysteries in paleontology.

05:43How big was the owner of such arms?

05:45What did it eat?

05:46How did it live?

05:47This remained unknown until 2014.

05:50According to the latest paleontology news about this lizard, a group of scientists from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources

06:00has discovered other well-preserved remains of the Dino Chiris.

06:05With their help, paleontologists have managed to recreate the lizard's appearance.

06:10And that breakthrough has turned out to be much cooler than the two-fingered dinosaur discovery.

06:15Are you ready?

06:16The Dino Chiris was colossal, rather slow, with a horse-like head and a spine that formed something like a hump.

06:25It looks super weird, even for a science fiction movie.

06:28This new dinosaur species belonged to Ornithomimo sauria, an ostrich-like species, agile and fast-moving.

06:39But not the Dino Chiris.

06:41Instead of speed and agility, the dinosaur had a large size.

06:45It was 36 feet long and weighed 13,200 pounds, which is almost the weight of an adult elephant and the length of half a metro wagon.

06:55Despite its size, the Dino Chiris was quite harmless.

07:00Its long muzzle looked like that of a duck or a horse.

07:04It also had no teeth.

07:07So for tyrannosaurs and other predatory giants, it was an easy lunch.

07:11And this is not just a guess.

07:13Scientists found bite marks on the discovered skeletons of this dinosaur.

07:17It seems this poor big dude met some really bad and hungry guys.

07:23But what was lunch to the strange lizard itself?

07:27It ate almost everything.

07:29Soft plants, algae, small vertebrates, and fish.

07:33It sucked food from the bottom of lakes and rivers with its beak and tongue and swallowed stones to help grind the food.

07:40Those stones crushed the pieces of food and thus helped the stomach to digest stuff more easily.

07:45The dinosaur used its terrible hands to dig and pick up food from trees in the ground.

07:51But the strangest part of its body was its back and tail.

07:56The bones at the end of its tail were joined into a single structure called a pygostyle.

08:02This thing supports the feathers of modern birds.

08:05Now, it's possible that the Dino Chiris waved its tail like a fan.

08:09And its back had thick bone spikes that stuck up from its spine.

08:14Considering that those bones were covered with skin, the whole strange skeleton structure looked like a sail.

08:21You know how dinosaurs evolved to have such a strange shape and probably ask yourself,

08:26Hey, what's the point?

08:28Well, scientists believe that the ligaments coming out of the spine helped support the dinosaur's heavy belly and legs.

08:34To better understand how that could work, imagine cable-stayed bridges.

08:39Long vertical beams have many cables that hold the roadway.

08:43Similar, the Dino Chiris spikes and ligaments help to hold the dinosaur's weight.

08:49Now, back at our Dino party, it would be a shy, tall dude who accidentally drops a drinking glass and makes you feel awkward.

08:56It's lonely.

08:57It dreams of finding friends.

08:59A herbivorous dinosaur with two fingers that looks like a predator and a horse-like giant with two long arms show us how diverse dinosaur evolution can be.

09:15T-Rex, Velociraptor, Diplodocus, and others are the superstars of the ancient world.

09:22It would be cool if paleontologists could discover new dinosaur species that would remove the old guard from their pedestal of fame.

09:31Would you like to see a movie starring the Dino Chiris and the Duonychus?

09:36Nay, I would.

09:40Hundreds of dinosaur species roamed our planet, and researchers give a name to a new type approximately every two weeks.

09:47It's not fair to stick to T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Spinosaurus, and other famous-sauruses all the time.

09:55They've had their chance to shine in the movies and across the internet.

09:58So, let's check out dinosaurs that no one talks about.

10:04First on our list is Taurosaurus.

10:07The special thing about this dinosaur is that it definitely had one of the largest skulls ever found.

10:12It was big because of this frill going from the back of the animal's skull and covering its neck.

10:19The frill wasn't there for protection.

10:21It was probably just to show off a bit.

10:23The bone in the frill was thin and full of holes.

10:29As you can see, it's very similar to Triceratops.

10:33There are still debates about whether these two are the same species.

10:37But more and more studies show that they were more like cousins.

10:40They were probably similar in size, but Taurosaurus had a longer head with big openings,

10:46as well as longer frill bones with a groove on top.

10:50It also had more pairs of horns on the back of the frill.

10:54Some like to call Taurosaurus a bull lizard.

10:57These fellas were plant-eaters that may have lived in social groups.

11:00They existed at approximately the same age.

11:03But Taurosaurus somehow ended up on the less popular side of the family.

11:10Taurosaurus was a small stegosaurus.

11:13It's one of the least cuddly dinosaurs of all time.

11:17Its long, thin spikes seemed to be a pretty good defense mechanism.

11:21Stegosaurus, on the other hand, had shorter, thicker spikes

11:24that were less likely to bend or snap when the animal used them.

11:30Now, you wouldn't want to get anywhere near Taurosaurus, though.

11:34Its tail could swing in a big half-circle and hit with a force strong enough to break a human skull.

11:41Any volunteers?

11:42No?

11:43Okay.

11:44One scientist used scans of the dino's fossils to make a computer model of its skeleton.

11:49The model showed that Kentrosaurus had a flexible neck.

11:53It must have been really useful for looking around to see if something interesting was going on,

11:58or if there was any dangerous animals trying to sneak up.

12:02Kentrosaurus typically walked on all four legs with straight hind limbs.

12:07The computer model tells us it could spread its front legs out to its sides, too.

12:12Maybe it was a way to protect its belly during fights.

12:16Stegosauruses, in general, had tails that were like big weights at the back of their bodies.

12:21That's why their balance point was closer to their hips.

12:24That's also the reason why they could easily stand on their hind legs and swing their tails around.

12:32So, most people haven't heard of heterodontosaurs, even though their fossils showed that dinosaurs got feathers way back before we thought and in groups where we didn't expect it.

12:45In 2008, paleontologists identified the first known skull of a baby heterodontosaurus, which was less than two inches long, smaller than a tea bag.

12:55This baby dinosaur had relatively big eyes and a short snout compared to bigger ones of its kind.

13:02Now, what's really interesting is that some scientists used to think that heterodontosaurus' tusks, like those of modern warthogs, only appeared when they were fully grown.

13:12But it seems they had them from the early stages of their life.

13:16Heterodontosaurus had five fingers on each hand, two of which were opposable.

13:24It was a good tool, considering the animal probably ate both plants and meat.

13:33Humans have different types of teeth, some for biting, some for chewing, and also canines.

13:39But most reptiles have just one kind of teeth.

13:42Heterodontosaurus was special because it had three different types of teeth.

13:47Small, peg-like ones, big teeth, resembling canines, and square-shaped teeth that did the cutting job.

13:54Scientists are not entirely sure how this creature used these different types of teeth.

13:59Maybe it was for digging up roots, breaking into termite nests, or even defending themselves against dangerous animals.

14:09Okay, say this name with me now.

14:12Psidacosaurus.

14:13She was quite a common dinosaur in its time, but she never still gained popularity.

14:19Scientists found out that when these dinosaurs were young, they probably crawled, considering they had longer arms and short legs.

14:27But as they got older, between four and six years old, their hind legs started growing much faster and became much longer than the front legs.

14:35So, later in life, they likely didn't move on all fours anymore, but walked on two legs.

14:42Inside the stomach of one of these creatures, scientists found pebbles.

14:46This shows the animals either had a hard time digesting what it ate, or it didn't chew its food very well.

14:53Its beak looks quite familiar.

14:55That's how it got its specific name, a parrot lizard.

14:58It was really strong, and some believe the creature used it to crack and open tough nuts and seeds before the pebbles in its stomach helped mash them up for digestion.

15:11These guys might have been good at swimming.

15:13They had broad feet, and the shape of their tail could have helped them move in the water relatively easily.

15:19Some scientists even believe they might have spent most of their life swimming in rivers and lakes.

15:25In 2004, researchers found something really sweet.

15:29Twenty-four young parrot lizards huddled together.

15:33They were too big to be hatchlings, so it could be a bunch of teenagers who had left their nests

15:38and then formed a group where they could support one another and defend themselves better.

15:43But apparently, that plan didn't work out so well.

15:47Now, check this one out.

15:48Stygiemolag, or as they call it, Styx Demon.

15:51We're looking at a peaceful, plant-eating creature with bony spikes and knobs on its skull.

15:58Most scientists believe it was a younger form of this fellow, even though they used to think they were a separate species.

16:04Stygiemolag is smaller than its more popular cousin, but it's also more robust and has a pretty thick neck.

16:11This dinosaur, with small forelimbs and long hind legs, three feet high, which is half as high as an average human.

16:21That doesn't sound dangerous in the world of giant and fierce dinosaurs, but the animal had a very thick skull roof.

16:28Maybe it wasn't the strongest tool to defend itself, but it probably helped in combat with rivals from its own species.

16:35They most likely head-butted to win the hearts of their chosen ones.

16:40But rivals from its own herd were a piece of cake, compared to the predators that might have gone after it.

16:46After all, this dino lived at the same time as old T-Rex.

16:52Now, when someone tells you to picture a dinosaur, Chisosaurus would probably be the last thing coming to your mind.

16:59It looks as if you've put together pieces of random animals and tried to make your friends believe this truly was a real animal that once roamed the Earth.

17:12But it's actually a dino, with giant sharp claws on its forelimbs, a bulky body, and a long neck ending with a tiny head.

17:21Now, don't let the claws scare you, though.

17:24These creatures didn't go after other animals since they were herbivores.

17:27But these claws could protect the animal from intruders and predators.

17:33The full scientific name of this creature describes it as a giant sloth-like reptile from China.

17:39This animal was one of the biggest and oldest members of the group where it belonged, which lived around 115 million years ago.

17:47No, I wasn't around then.

17:49At first, it was hard to tell which animals were related to this weird-looking dinosaur.

17:54But in the 1990s, scientists made a conclusion that they were modified plant-eating theropods, which is similar to carnivorous dinos.

18:04They also most likely had feathers and small wings, like some sort of a very big turkey.

18:09That's it for today.

18:14So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.

18:19Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the bright side.

18:23Kill it for now.

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