Dinosaur Skeleton From 99 Million Years Ago Found in Utah; Creature Gets Named After Two-Faced Roman Deity

The close-to-complete skeletal remains of a new dinosaur have been unearthed in Utah. The newly found species has been named after the two-faced Roman deity of change, Janus, due to the creature's skilled survival amidst the rapid evolution and chaos in the prehistory of North America.

Iani Smithi

MailOnline reports that the new dinosaur, Iani Smithi, was found in the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah, which is a well-known dinosaur graveyard. Most of the creature's skeleton was recovered, including its limbs, vertebrae, and skull, EurekAlert adds.

The novel discovery was detailed in the PLOS One journal. Lindsay Zanno, a co-author of the study who is linked with North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, explains that the skeleton of Iani was well-preserved and mostly complete.

According to Newsweek, Iani is an early ornithopod, which is a dinosaur group that gave rise to dinosaurs with duckbills. The creature's most distinct and unique feature is its strong jaw. Its teeth appeared to be designed for chewing on dense and tough vegetation.

Zanno explains that Iani was recovered as an early rhabdodontomorph, which is an ornithopod lineage that is known to be nearly exclusive to Europe.

She adds that if Iani holds up to this lineage, this would raise several intriguing questions.

Mid-Cretaceous: When Dinosaur Populations Plummeted

The creature lived in what is now present-day Utah roughly 99 million years ago, during the mid-Cretaceous period. This period drastically affected the population of dinosaurs. The heightened amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere led to global warming and rising sea levels.

Zanno adds that during this time, concentrations of greenhouse gases were roughly three to four times higher than present-day levels. Sea levels were also around 500 to 1,000 feet higher than current levels.

Climate change back then was due to volcanic gases. This led to the extinction of different dinosaur groups across North America.

The rise in sea levels forced dinosaurs to heatedly compete for territory and food. Amidst such conditions, Iani fought with early duckbills and feathered tyrannosaurus.

The researchers suspect that Iani could be a representative of the last grap of its kind across North America before duck-billed dinosaurs from Asia outcompeted them. Zanno adds that because of Iani's existence during the said transition, this species somewhat symbolizes "a changing planet," as Newsweek notes.

Iani's discovery has also aided scientists in connecting the extinction of ancient ornithopods with a period of climate change.

Zanno adds that there are big questions, such as what happened to dinosaur groups prior to this period, that require significant data before answering them. Because of this, they have been searching for new dinosaurs in mid-Cretaceous-age rocks. The discovery of Iani is now the latest addition to these efforts.

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