Dinosaur named after Russian palaeontologist
Published 17 December, 2008, 17:55
Remains of a previously unknown species of dinosaur found in Yakutia in Russian Far East have been named after Russian palaeontologist Pyotr Kolosov.
Palaeontologists say they had never encountered such a species before in any corner of the Earth. In all directories henceforth this type of dinosaur will be called Xenocretosuchus kolosсovi.
Kolosov, who is also a doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences and an expert with the International Union of Geological Sciences which evaluates objects for the UNESCO world heritage list, has been studying dinosaur remains in the Yakut region for many years.
Dinosaur Xenocretosuchus kolosсovi lived 125-145 million years ago.
On the basis of samples gathered by Kolosov between 1988 and 2007, experts of the Palaeontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences concluded that the dinosaur is most likely a mammal, rather than a reptile, it preferred land to water and its body was probably covered with fur.
