Washington, Nov 21 (ANI): Dinosaurs that existed in the North Pole might have had tougher and shorter lifespan, with many not making it to their 20th birthday, according to a new study.
The findings offer a rare look at dinosaur life stages.
By counting tree-like bands on femur fossils, paleontologists can estimate dinosaur growth stages.
Fossils from high latitudes better express growth bands that reveal how these animals grew up. Scientists can then analyze them similar to how they study tree rings.
"We determine growth rates by looking at the number and spacing of the growth bands in a cross section of a femur," co-author Patrick Druckenmiller told Discovery News.
"We measure the distance of each band from the centre of the bone as a proxy for body size. In this case, it's presented as a percentage of total length. Growth banding becomes narrower as the growth rate progressively tapers off later in life," he explained.
Following this process, the researchers determined some polar dinosaurs grew rapidly as juveniles, became sexually mature at about age 9, and died at around age 19 (assuming they didn't bite the dust due to disease, an accident, or for some other reason).
Druckenmiller, curator of Earth Sciences at the University of Alaska Museum, and colleague Gregory Erickson focused their research on Pachyrhinosaurus femur bones excavated from the early Maastrichian (about 65 to 70 million years ago) of Prince Creek Formation in Northern Alaska.
The findings were published in the journal Historical Biology. (ANI)
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