Paleontologists finally have their first good look at a dinosaur s butt
For the first time ever, scientists take a closer look at the dinosaur s cloaca that was used to expel waste and, potentially, attract a mate. Listen - 01:59
Here s a digital reconstruction of a Psittacosaurus dinosaur illustrating how the cloacal vent may have been used for signaling during courtship. Bob Nicholls/Paleocreations.com 2020
Paleontologists spend their entire academic careers studying the anatomy of dinosaurs. Now a team of scientists from the University of Bristol has finally described in detail a dinosaur s cloacal or vent, which is used for everything from defecation and urination to attracting a mate to breed with (or, less scientifically, a jack-of-all-trades butthole).
21 January 2021, 12:30 am EST By Digital Reconstruction Looks at on Dinosaur Butts for the Very First Time ( Screenshot From Gateway to Knowledge YouTube )
For the first time ever, a group of scientists that were led by the official University of Bristol have been able to describe in detail what a dinosaur s cloacal or vent is like. The cloacal is said to be an all-purpose opening that the dinosaurs use for breeding, urination, and defecation.
According to the story by Bristol.ac.uk, Although most mammals usually have different openings for these different functions, most of the vertebrate animals actually possess a cloaca. Although most people know dinosaurs and their own appearance as usually feathered, horned, and scaly creatures as well as which colors they were, there aren t many findings regarding their vents and how they look like.
Science
2 months, 3 weeks
Scientists now have a much clearer picture of how some dinosaur species had sex thanks to the discovery of an unusually well-preserved fossil.
Found in Liaoning province, northeastern China, the 120 million-year-old fossil belonged to a Psittacosaurus.
This carnivorous species of dinosaur – roughly the size of a Labrador – was believed to have existed in parts of China, Mongolia, Siberia, and possibly Thailand and Laos during the Early Cretaceous period.
An intact cloaca.
The cloaca helped males know when sexy time was up. IMAGE: Cell.
The fossil, which is currently housed at Germany s Senckenberg Natural History Museum, comes with a well intact cloaca.
ANOTHER MILESTONE: As of Tuesday, the United States has seen more than 400,000 deaths due to COVID-19. That milestone came almost exactly one year after the first case of the