Scientists have discovered a new dinosaur from Argentina with powerful claws, feasting on an ancient crocodile bone.
The new find was possibly 7m long and hailed from a mysterious group of dinosaurs called megaraptorans. They prowled across what is now South America, Australia and parts of Asia, splitting off into different species over millions of years.
Megaraptorans were known for their stretched-out skulls and “huge and very powerful claws,” said Patagonian Institute of Geology and Paleontology paleontologist Lucio Ibiricu, who was part of the discovery team.
Photo: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History via AP
It is not yet clear how the creatures hunted and where they fall on the evolutionary timeline — mainly because the fossils recovered so far were incomplete.
In a new study, researchers said they uncovered part of a skull as well as arm, leg and tail bones from the Lago Colhue Huapi rock formation in Patagonia.
They discovered unique features in the bones that made them realize it could be a new species.
Photo: AP
The latest member of the megaraptoran clan named Joaquinraptor casali “fills a major gap by providing one of the most complete skeletons yet,” Federico Agnolin of the Argentine Museum of Natural Science Bernardino Rivadavia said in an e-mail.
Agnolin was not involved with the research, which was published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
The creature likely lived 66 to 70 million years ago — close to the time dinosaurs went extinct — and was at least 19 years old when it died, although scientists do not know what killed it.
The leg bone pressed against its jaws — belonging to an ancient relative of crocodiles — could yield clues to its diet and whether it was the top predator on the humid prehistoric flood plains.
Ibiricu named the new dinosaur in memory of his son Joaquin.
Although Joaquin was young and had not yet developed a fascination with dinosaurs, Ibiricu said he thinks he would have appreciated being named after one.
“All children love dinosaurs so he would probably be a fan, too,” he said.
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