Each year, new discoveries are made regarding dinosaurs, but 2023 seemed to bring an exceptional amount of fresh information. For some reason, this past year was all about unearthing answers – and we’ve compiled the most fascinating ones!
Mammals Fought Back
When we think about dinosaurs, we often imagine them as creatures who ruled the earth without an opponent in sight. As it turns out, that’s not entirely true. In July, paleontologists fought a fossil of a mammal biting into a dinosaur’s rib, proving that the creature wasn’t going down without a fight!
Dinosaurs Got Bigger as Time Went On
Hollywood movies always depict dinosaurs as exceptionally large creatures, but they weren’t always massive. Research published in May revealed that dinosaurs’ size evolved at least 36 times over the course of a hundred million years.
A New Species Was Discovered
In June, a new dinosaur was discovered, and it was named Gonkoken Nanoi. This species looks like hadrosaurs but evolved in a different area of the world – from ancient North America to Cretaceous Chile – likely in parallel with the hadrosaurs.
Dinosaurs Had Lips
It may be hard to imagine dinosaurs sporting full lips, but that’s apparently exactly what they had.
In March, we learned that many species – including Tyrannosaurus rex – had lips similar to what lizards have today. Um, maybe it’s Maybelline?