A ROOSTER-LIKE comb might have donned the heads of duck-billed dinosaurs, according to University of New England lecturer Phil Bell.
Dr Bell made the discovery at a dig in Canada and said it had the potential to change the perception scientists had about dinosaurs.
A rare, mummified specimen of the duck-billed dinosaur Edmontosaurus showed that their heads were adorned with a fleshy comb, similar to that of a rooster.
It was the first time a soft tissue display structure had been identified on a dinosaur, meaning many of the popular images we have of dinosaurs, from movies to the plastic toy variety, could require a makeover.
Dr Bell said no one ever though dinosaurs would have combs like roosters, because the evidence of soft tissue usually decayed before fossilisation.
“An elephant’s trunk or a rooster’s comb might never fossilise because there is no bone in them,” he said.
“This discovery is equivalent to learning for the first time that elephants had trunks.
“We have lots of skulls of Edmontosaurus, but until now there have been no clues to suggest they might have had a big fleshy crest.”
The duck-billed dinosaur was the most common dinosaur in North America between 75 and 65 million years ago.
They were gentle herbivorous giants – about 12 metres long – and filled a similar ecological role to kangaroos or deer today.
Dr Bell said the significance of the discovery might not be limited to this one species of dinosaur.
“There’s no reason that other strange fleshy structures couldn’t have been present on a whole range of other dinosaurs including the Tyrannosaurus Rex or Triceratops,” he said.
Dr Bell said it was hard to say what evolutionary purpose the combs served, but similar appendages on roosters and other male birds were used to “get the girls”.
“We could imagine a pair of Edmontosaurus sizing each other up, bellowing, and showing off their head gear to see who would come out as the dominant male and who would take charge of the herd,” he said.
“We may never know exactly, but it is a reminder of how much is still out there for us to learn about these fabulously bizarre creatures.”
