Scientists discover dinosaur with a beak like a parrot

An artist's impression of what they might have looked like

Complete skeletons of a group of parrot-like dinosaur have been dug up in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia.

It is thought the dinosaurs, which have been named, Oksoko avarsan, lived around 68 million years ago!

A team led by the University of Edinburgh found a well preserved group of fossils which showed they had feathers, two fingers and beaks a bit like parrot.

Studying the fossils has also helped scientists understand more about how the dinosaurs evolved over time.

Fossil remains of four young dinosaurs were preserved resting together suggesting they were sociable creatures.

The leader of the discovery Dr Gregory Funston, of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences said: "Oksoko avarsan is interesting because the skeletons are very complete and the way they were preserved resting together shows that juveniles roamed together in groups."

Dr Gregory Funston and his team found the Oksoko avarsan in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

What were they like?

Okasko avarson would have had feathers and been about two metres long.

Similar to modern day parrots, they had a long and toothless beak.

They are thought to have been omnivorous, meaning they ate vegetation as well as meat.

Change over time

Oksoko avarsan are thought to have been part of a family of three-fingered dinosaurs known as oviraptors but these ones only had two functional digits (claws a bit like fingers).

Researchers have said that these very well preserved fossils have given them their first evidence of the dinosaurs changing over generations to have fewer fingers.

Dr Gregory Funston said: "Its two-fingered hand prompted us to look at the way the hand and forelimb changed throughout the evolution of oviraptors, which hadn't been studied before.

"This revealed some unexpected trends that are a key piece in the puzzle of why oviraptors were so diverse before the extinction that killed the dinosaurs."

The change seems to have happened at the same time as they moved to live in different areas of the world, like North America and the Gobi Desert.