2023 Author: Bryan Walter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 22:24
Paleontologists have found a new species of relative of the megaraptor. Scientists report about their find in an article published in the journal PLOS ONE.
The remains of a carnivorous animal have been found by paleontologists in Patagonia, a region in South America where Cretaceous bones are often found. The new species belonging to the Megaraptora clade was named Murusraptor barrosaensis. According to researchers, the length of the dinosaur reached 6.5 meters, and he lived about 80 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous. These creatures were medium in size, walked on two legs, and had large crescent claws on their forelimbs.
Reconstruction of the skull shape of a megaraptor based on the remains
Reconstruction of the external appearance of the mega-raptor based on the remains
The structure of the animal's cranium indicates that the murusraptor was young rather than an adult. However, even though it is not yet fully formed, the animal can compare with other dinosaurs found in southern Argentina - for example, with the orcoraptor.
The first remains of a megaraptor were found in 1998 in the same region. These predatory dinosaurs lived during the Turonian and Cognac periods (about 90 - 84 million years ago), reached 8 meters in length, about 3 meters in height and weighed almost a ton. A distinctive feature of megaraptors is their long, sickle-shaped claws, exceeding 30 centimeters in length, which were located on the forelimbs.
