It ’s a somewhat rare consequence to find unadulterated fossils in dependable condition . After million of years any number of thing could happen to destroy fossils before they are disclose and document by scientist , if the fauna even fossilise at all . Finding well preserved baby animals is peculiarly hard , since they are more likely to have gotten trampled or eaten after their death . Phillip Currie from the University of Alberta has recently uncover a juvenileChasmosaurus bellithat was so complete and intact , he was actually able to speculate about the cause of death .
Chasmosaurus belliis ordinarily found in British Columbia , Canada . It is a relative of the triceratops and has the familiar cosmetic ruff . Up to this point , all of the skeletons have been adult . Random bones of small dinosaur have been discovered , but lacked the context of a full animal . The discovery of the 70 - million - year - erstwhile juvenile person , which was only about three years honest-to-god at the meter of death , reveals important clues about how the dinosaur originate and changed over the course of its aliveness . As it turns out , the youngC. bellislook a lot like the adult , just smaller . Thenewly - fall upon Edward Young dinowas about three years old at the time of its death , valuate about 5 feet ( 1.5 meters ) long . adult grew to be about 15 feet ( 5 meters ) long , though the dead body plan is essentially unchanged . Other baby dinosaur have proportionately longer legs to keep up with quick - moving adults , but that does not seem to be the case with this species .
The fossil was discover in what used to be a riverbed . This has lead Currie and his enquiry team to believe thatthe baby did n’t die at the hired hand of a gravid brute . It most likely wandered out too far into the water and got caught in the current . Unable to save itself , it drowned and settled at the bottom of the river , where it would finally become ossified in the sediment . The consistency was so well preserved , Currie was actually able to see impressions from the baby ’s peel in the hem in rock . The squad hopes to use this fossil to gain a deeper understanding of howC. bellilived and how it survive in the setting of its ecosystem .
