Issi Saaneq: New Dinosaur Species

• 06 Dec 2021

Why in News

Recently, researchers have discovered the first dinosaur species that lived on Greenland 214 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch).

Key Points

• Discovery:
  
  • In 1994, palaeontologists from Harvard University unearthed two well-preserved dinosaur skulls during an excavation in East Greenland. 
    
    • One of the specimens was originally thought to be from a Plateosaurus, a well-known long-necked dinosaur that lived in Germany, France and Switzerland.
    • Researchers have determined that the finding belongs to a new species, which they have named ‘Issi saaneq’.
• About:
  
  • This medium-sized, long-necked dinosaur was a predecessor of the sauropods, the biggest land animals ever to have thundered across our planet.
    
    • Issi Saaneq differs from all other sauropodomorphs discovered so far, but has similarities with dinosaurs found in Brazil, such as the Macrocollum and Unaysaurus, which are almost 15 million years older.
    • It was the first sauropodomorph to have reached altitudes over 40 degrees north.
  • The name of the new dinosaur (Issi Saaneq) pays tribute to Greenland’s Inuit language and means “coldbone”.
    
    • The Inuit language, the northeastern division of the Eskimo languages, spoken in northern Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
• Significance of Discovery:
  
  • The new species lived during an important time in Earth's history. It will help the researchers to understand the climatic changes according to that time.
  • The fact that this is a new species unique to Greenland is important, because it helps researchers to understand more about the range of Late Triassic dinosaurs, as well as how sauropods evolved.
  • The discovery of Issi saaneq will broaden the knowledge about the evolution of plateosaurid sauropodomorphs.

Source: IE