In Depth
Aquilarhinus named for the perceived appearance of the snout which in life is thought to resemble the hooked bend of an eagles beak, suggesting Aquilarhinus may have had a specialised feeding method. Study of the lower jaw has led to a postulated reconstruction of front of the jaws having a rounded shovel-like structure. Hadrosaurs are known for having hard keratinous beaks, hence their nicknames of duck-billed dinosaurs, the shovel like appearance of the ‘beak’ of Aquilarhinus may suggest a different feeding method than most other known hadrosaurs, perhaps even a focus upon a specific type of plant.
Further Reading
- An unusual ‘shovel-billed’ dinosaur with trophic specializations from the early Campanian of Trans-Pecos Texas, and the ancestral hadrosaurian crest. - Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. - Albert Prieto-M�rquez, Jonathan R. Wagner & Thomas Lehman - 2019.
