In Patagonia, Argentine and American paleontologists announced the discovery of a previously unknown species of carnivorous dinosaur. The discovery sheds light on the history of the mysterious megaraptors, which dominated the region until the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The excavations took place in the southern province of Chubut. The work was supervised by Lucio Ibirica from the Patagonian Institute geology and paleontology. Scientists have discovered a partial skeleton of a large predator, which they named Joaquinraptor casali. Next to him were the remains of an ancient crocodile, probably his last victim. This made the find especially valuable.
The size of the dinosaur is impressive: its length exceeded seven meters and its weight reached a ton. But the main feature is its unusually powerful front paws with long claws. These are precisely the features that characterize megaraptors, a group of poorly studied predators.
The discovery of Joaquinraptor casali is of great scientific importance. It turned out to be the latest megaraptor known to science. Its age is about 66-70 million years. This means that megaraptors existed in southern South America until the very end of the age of dinosaurs. Moreover, they remained the top predators in their ecosystems, successfully competing with other predatory dinosaurs.
Thus, the find confirms that megaraptors occupied the top of the food chain in Patagonia. They had unique adaptations that allowed them to dominate this region for millions of years. This discovery is forcing scientists to take a fresh look at the ecology of the ancient world shortly before the great extinction.
The material was prepared with the support of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science as part of the Decade of Science and Technology.
Source: tass.ru
