But North Carolina scientists have now found what they believe is a dinosaur that lived in a burrow like an armadillo.
It was a seven-foot-long, plant-eating dinosaur and as per evidence, the dinosaur species spent at least part of their time in underground burrows if not all.
Named Fona herzogae, this dinosaur lived 99 million years ago in a warm, wet, muddy region which is now in Utah.
The fossil of this dinosaur was discovered by North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences palaeontologists.
Another dinosaur discoveryIn the past few years, palaeontologists have also been fascinated with a mostly complete dinosaur fossil buried in Mississippi.
Dinosaurs, till now, were only known to either move on land, fly in the air or even live in the sea. But North Carolina scientists have now found what they believe is a dinosaur that lived in a burrow like an armadillo. Its eating habits, they say, resemble that of a deer. It was a seven-foot-long, plant-eating dinosaur and as per evidence, the dinosaur species spent at least part of their time in underground burrows if not all.
Named Fona herzogae, this dinosaur lived 99 million years ago in a warm, wet, muddy region which is now in Utah. There was a massive inland ocean along with active volcanoes, mountains and numerous rivers.
The fossil of this dinosaur was discovered by North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences palaeontologists. Several more specimens have also been dug up ever since work started in 2013.
A dinosaur has not been known to be burrowing before, which is why the discovery becomes extremely special. Haviv Avrahami, a PhD student at NC State and digital technician for the new Dueling Dinosaurs program at the Museum of Natural Sciences, said, "It's incredibly rare. It’s only been identified as a behaviour in one closely related species."
How do we know the dinosaur was a borrower?
Several physical attributes of this dinosaur hint at it being a burrower. Its hind legs are strong and its "feet are also freakishly large for the size of its body and would’ve helped it kick dirt out of its home," Avrahami said.
Avrahami says that Fona is part of a group of dinosaurs that "is almost like one of the biggest black holes in palaeontology."
Another dinosaur discovery
In the past few years, palaeontologists have also been fascinated with a mostly complete dinosaur fossil buried in Mississippi. It was discovered in 2007 and yet 85 per cent of it remains buried. It is a hadrosaur and belongs to a family of duck-billed, herbivorous dinosaurs. These dinosaurs existed on Earth more than 82 million years ago.
