New Delhi: For the first time ever scientists have discovered fossilized facial tumor was found the lower jaw of a dwarf duck-billed dinosaur. The fossil is found in the Hațeg County Dinosaurs Geopark, a UNESCO site in Transylvania.
The study reveals that the fossil belongs to an ancient species of dwarf dinosaur Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus but scientists are still clueless about the growth of the tumor.
They said that this type of growth is mainly found in people other mammals and some modern reptiles.
"Telmatosaurus is known to be close to the root of the duck-billed dinosaur family tree, and the presence of such a deformity early in their evolution provides us with further evidence that the duck-billed dinosaurs were more prone to tumors than other dinosaurs," said study researcher Kate Achesonin in a university news release.
The study published in Scientific Reports showed that this primitive duck-billed dinosaur is approximately 69 to 67 millions years old. The study highlights also highlights a major fact that The tumor in this dinosaur had not developed to its full extent at the moment it died, but it could have indirectly contributed to its early death.
