Argentine scientists discover fossil of largest raptor dinosaur
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Apr 28, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Argentine paleontologist Mauro Aranciaga Rolando poses with members of his team at the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022 next to the fossilized bones of a megaraptor dinosaur named Maip macrothorax that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
Argentine paleontologist Mauro Aranciaga Rolando poses with members of his team at the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022 next to the fossilized bones of a megaraptor dinosaur named Maip macrothorax that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina. PHOTO BY AGUSTIN MARCARIAN /REUTERS
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BUENOS AIRES — A team of Argentine paleontologists digging in Patagonia have discovered the remains of the largest dinosaur belonging to the raptor family ever recorded.
The dinosaur, a new species named Maip macrothorax, was between nine and 10 metres (29.5 and 32.8 feet) long, while other “megaraptors” were no longer than nine metres, said one of the scientists who participated in the discovery, Mauro Aranciaga Rolando.
“This animal is very large in size and we were able to recover a lot of remains,” Aranciaga Rolando told Reuters on Wednesday, when the fossils were shown at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum in capital Buenos Aires.
Fossilized bones of Maip macrothorax, a megaraptor dinosaur that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina, are shown in the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022.
Fossilized bones of Maip macrothorax, a megaraptor dinosaur that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina, are shown in the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022. PHOTO BY AGUSTÍN MARCARIAN /REUTERS
The fossils were discovered in March 2019 in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, days before strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were enforced, said the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, to which the experts who found the dinosaur belong.
Two Japanese scientists also participated in the Argentine expedition.
Due to the pandemic, paleontologists initially had to distribute the fossils between them and analyze them at home.
The carnivorous dinosaur is thought to have inhabited what is now the southern tip of Argentina 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
Megaraptors were animals with an agile skeleton, a long tail that allowed them to maneuver and balance, a long neck and an elongated skull with more than 60 small teeth, said Aranciaga Rolando, who explained that the sharp-ended limbs of “Maip” were the animal’s most dangerous weapon.
![RAPTOR-DINOSAUR-scaled[1].jpg](https://forums.canadiancontent.net/data/attachments/11/11767-9e0ddb116dc0f8121baf0def0fc5de00.jpg "RAPTOR-DINOSAUR-scaled[1].jpg")
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Apr 28, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Argentine paleontologist Mauro Aranciaga Rolando poses with members of his team at the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022 next to the fossilized bones of a megaraptor dinosaur named Maip macrothorax that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
Argentine paleontologist Mauro Aranciaga Rolando poses with members of his team at the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022 next to the fossilized bones of a megaraptor dinosaur named Maip macrothorax that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina. PHOTO BY AGUSTIN MARCARIAN /REUTERS
Article content
BUENOS AIRES — A team of Argentine paleontologists digging in Patagonia have discovered the remains of the largest dinosaur belonging to the raptor family ever recorded.
The dinosaur, a new species named Maip macrothorax, was between nine and 10 metres (29.5 and 32.8 feet) long, while other “megaraptors” were no longer than nine metres, said one of the scientists who participated in the discovery, Mauro Aranciaga Rolando.
“This animal is very large in size and we were able to recover a lot of remains,” Aranciaga Rolando told Reuters on Wednesday, when the fossils were shown at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Argentine Museum in capital Buenos Aires.
Fossilized bones of Maip macrothorax, a megaraptor dinosaur that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina, are shown in the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022.
Fossilized bones of Maip macrothorax, a megaraptor dinosaur that lived in the Patagonia region of Argentina, are shown in the Buenos Aires National History Museum on April 27, 2022. PHOTO BY AGUSTÍN MARCARIAN /REUTERS
The fossils were discovered in March 2019 in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz, days before strict COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were enforced, said the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, to which the experts who found the dinosaur belong.
Two Japanese scientists also participated in the Argentine expedition.
Due to the pandemic, paleontologists initially had to distribute the fossils between them and analyze them at home.
The carnivorous dinosaur is thought to have inhabited what is now the southern tip of Argentina 70 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
Megaraptors were animals with an agile skeleton, a long tail that allowed them to maneuver and balance, a long neck and an elongated skull with more than 60 small teeth, said Aranciaga Rolando, who explained that the sharp-ended limbs of “Maip” were the animal’s most dangerous weapon.
Argentine scientists discover fossil of largest raptor dinosaur
A team of Argentine paleontologists digging in Patagonia have discovered the remains of the largest dinosaur belonging to the raptor family.
