Well-preserved skeletons of two dinosaurs that roamed the Earth 120 million years ago were discovered by Russian paleontologists Monday at the Shestakovsky excavation site in the Kemerovo region, The Voice of Russia reported.
Identified as Psittacosaurus sibiricus, the two-meters long dinosaur skeletons were dug up after paleontologists spent three weeks at a well-known excavation site near the village of Shestakovo in the Siberian region of Kemerovo hoping to locate and use the fossils to conduct a comparative analysis and establish the animal's exact age and size.
"The skeletons are intact and in great condition," Olga Feofanova, director of a local museum involved with the excavation works, told AFP. After she received permission to conduct the work together with a team of Moscow-based paleontologists, the excavation began in late May.
The skeletons were cut out from the Earth at a depth of 2.5 meters (8-feet) in a soil cube, which was subsequently encased in a frame made of a special material to keep it safe during transportation to Kemerovo. "Our paleontological expedition's extremely well preserved discovery, made just today, was tentatively identified as Psittacosaurus Sibiricus. The skeleton was almost intact. We used the so-called 'monolith' method to remove it from the earth and transport it to the museum undamaged," Feofanova told Interfax on Monday.
"When the 'monolith' arrives at the museum we will start scaling the soil off the skeleton in an effort likely to last for about six months. The end result will be an exhibit of global significance which is likely to attract not only Kemerovo paleontologists, but also representatives of major profile institutes," Feofanova said.
According to Interfax, "Dinosaurs of the Psittacosaurus Sibiricus family lived in Asia about 130-100 million years ago. The remains found in different parts of modern China, Mongolia and Russia belonged to at least ten types of Psittacosaurus dinosaurs. They were two-legged plant-eating dinosaurs, the size of a gazelle, with a powerful 'beak' on their upper jaw.
The rare finds will go on display in the regional museum, local authorities said in a statement.
