#Bizwhiznetwork.com Innovation ΛＩ |Technology News
A partial skeleton of a megaraptorid dinosaur unearthed over a decade ago in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, has been recognized as belonging to a new species.
Tratayenia rosalesi crosses a stream in what is now Patagonia, Argentina roughly 85 million years ago. Image credit: Andrew McAfee, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
Named Tratayenia rosalesi by its discoverers, the dinosaur was a member of Megaraptoridae, a group of carnivorous dinosaurs that terrorized South America and Australia during the middle and late stages of the Cretaceous period.
The ancient creature may be the geologically youngest megaraptorid dinosaur yet found anywhere in the world, showing that these predators survived until at least 85 million years ago.
“Not many megaraptorid specimens are known, so we thought the new fossil would provide important information on these enigmatic predators,” said Dr. Domenica dos Santos, from of the Museo de Ciencias Naturales of the Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina.
“Patagonian discoveries such as Tratayenia rosalesi are expanding our knowledge of the spectacular but still mysterious dinosaurs of the Southern Hemisphere,” added Dr. Rubén Juárez Valieri, from the Museo Provincial Carlos Ameghino, Argentina.
Tratayenia rosalesi is the first member of Megaraptoridae to preserve the complete series of hip vertebrae, and as such, it lends insight into the anatomy of this part of the skeleton in these little-known Cretaceous carnivores.
“The vertebrae of Tratayenia rosalesi are about as gorgeous as dinosaur fossils get, and they’ve got some pretty weird features to boot,” said Dr. Matt Lamanna, from Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.
“We definitely wish we had more of this thing, but what we do have is awesome.”
Thanks to discoveries such as Tratayenia rosalesi, paleontologists are closer than ever to understanding what megaraptorids looked like and how they behaved.
These dinosaurs had proportionally long, low skulls lined with many sharp, serrated teeth; bones that were chock-full of air pockets like those of their modern relatives, birds; and most strikingly, long, powerfully muscled forelimbs that were tipped with gigantic talons on the innermost two fingers of each hand.
They grew to over 30 feet (9 m) in length and were the biggest, deadliest predators in southern South America from about 95 to 85 million years ago.
They used their enormous hand claws to catch and subdue prey, including other dinosaurs.
“Megaraptorid claws are the stuff of nightmares — razor-sharp meat hooks more than a foot long. Wolverine from the X-Men has nothing on these guys,” Dr. Lamanna noted.
Still, paleontologists have much left to learn about megaraptorids. For one thing, their evolutionary relationships to other carnivorous dinosaurs are poorly understood, with some researchers arguing that megaraptorids are related to even larger Southern Hemisphere carnivores such as Carcharodontosaurus and Giganotosaurus, whereas others contend that megaraptorids are close cousins of Tyrannosaurus rex.
Though Tratayenia rosalesi does not help to solve this particular riddle, an answer may well be in sight.
“Tratayenia rosalesi is just one of many exciting megaraptorid fossils that have been found in recent years,” Dr. Porfiri said.
“After these specimens are studied, many questions surrounding these puzzling carnivorous creatures may finally be answered.”
Details of the dinosaur’s discovery are published in the journal Cretaceous Research.
_____
Juan D. Porfiri et al. A new megaraptoran theropod dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Bajo de la Carpa Formation of northwestern Patagonia. Cretaceous Research, published online March 20, 2018; doi: 10.1016/j.cretres.2018.03.014
