The skull of the Meraxes dinosaur reached a length of more than 127 centimeters (Louis Rubio / AFP)
Advance excavations dinosaur A ferocious with a huge head covered with bumps and scales, reminiscent of the legendary gargoyle monster found in Argentina An insight into the evolution of some of Earth’s largest predatory dinosaurs.
On Thursday, scientists said they had discovered in northern Patagonia the large skeletal remains of a previously unknown species of dinosaur called Meraxes gigas, including one of the most complete skulls of a large, carnivorous dinosaur ever discovered.
Miraxes, which lived about 90 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, was 11 to 12 meters long and weighed about 9,000 pounds (4 metric tons).
All carnivorous dinosaurs belong to a group of bipeds called theropods.
Juan Ignacio Canal, lead author of the study published in the journal Current Biology, said Juan Ignacio Canal, a paleontologist at the Argentine Research Agency (CONIST) at the Ernesto Bachmann Museum of Paleontology, said that the length of the skull of the Meraxes dinosaur exceeded 127 centimeters.
“Many of the facial bones and the roof of the skull were covered with bumps, hollows and fissures, giving them a fierce appearance like medieval gargoyles,” said University of Minnesota paleontologist Pete Makovichki, who co-authored the study.
Miraxes had a powerful jaw with pointed teeth 15 centimeters long, and had foot claws larger than any of the large theropods.
He added that despite the large body of dinosaurs of this species, the length of their arms was a little more than 60 centimeters, which means that they are “ridiculously short.”
The Miraxes dinosaurs provided the first evidence of short forelimbs in this group.
The scientists wondered why three of the most important groups of theropods had short arms that were of little use for predation. The researchers said that the three groups were characterized by a large head size and a small size of the forelimbs, which indicates a heavy reliance on the skull to finish off prey. But despite its diminutive size, Miraxes’ arms were strong and muscular.
(Archyde.com)