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Science Round-Up: Danish anthropologist compares the complexity of a dinosaur’s anus to a ‘Swiss Army knife’
Orsolya Albert
January 25th, 2021
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Painful to approach this anus, you would imagine (photo: Nobu Tamura)
A Danish-led research team has successfully reconstructed a dinosaur’s multi-functioning anus, gaining an exclusive sneak peek into their sex life and reproductive functions.
It is believed to have functioned as both a pee hole and feeding hole. This is why Jakob Vinther, the lead author of the study, has jokingly called it the “Swiss Army knife of a rear opening”, whilst speaking to vindenskab.dk
The reconstruction is of a ‘Psittacosaurus’, a dinosaur the size of a Labrador with a long parrot beak and horns, which lived between 65-145 million years ago.
Started with a larynx, now here we are
Initially researchers found the larynx of a 38-million-year-old bird, and that’s when Vinther first said he hoped to find the larynx of a dinosaur.
Fast forward to a number of anthropologists finding a specimen of a Psittacosaurus in China. They noticed how extremely well-groomed the buttocks were, and that led to the current reconstruction.
As well as the various bodily functions, they also found that it resembles a crocodile’s anus. This entails how it is darker as it covered by melanin, presumably to attract mating partners and provide antimicrobial protection.
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