Weird plant-eating dinosaur that looked like a carnivore bolsters bold theory on evolution

An oddball, vegetarian dinosaur with the silhouette of a flesh-ripping velociraptor, whose fossilised remains were unearthed in southern Chile 13 years ago, is a missing link in dinosaur evolution, researchers said Wednesday.

A revised assessment of the kangaroo-sized Chilesaurus, reported in the journal Biology Letters, bolsters a theory unveiled earlier this year that threatens to upend a long-standing classification of all dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs were the monarchs of Earth for 160 million years until a space rock collided with the planet 65.5 million years ago and wiped out those confined to land.

The survivors, which could fly, are the direct ancestor of today’s birds.

“Chilesaurus genuinely helps fill an evolutionary gap between two big dinosaur groups,” said co-author Paul Barrett, president of Britain’s Palaeontographical Society and a researcher at the Natural History Museum.

When first presented to the world in 2015, Chilesaurus - despite its penchant for plants - was lumped together with theropods, the suborder of meat-eating dinos that not only includes fleet-footed velociraptors but Tyrannosaurus rex, the ultimate carnivore.