Never-before-seen skeleton of a giant dinosaur discovered in Argentina

After four years of excavations in Patagonia, north of Argentina, a team of scientists has announced the discovery of a new giant dinosaur. In 2012, a skull of over 1.20 meters was found. The skull was studied over several years and the results have now been published in the journal Current Biology.

The giant dinosaur revealed its first secrets

The dinosaur was identified as a member of the carcharodontosaurid theropod radiation and has been named Meraxes gigas. Scientists were able to conclude that it lived on Earth 90 to 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period.

Peter Makovicky, a paleontologist from the University of Minnesota in the United States, explained that at that time the region was wetter, more forested, and much closer to the sea.

The giant dinosaur could live for around 40 years and hunted sauropods, some of whose remains were discovered at the excavation site. The animal ‘certainly looked very imposing, it looked like a gargoyle’, according to Peter Makovicky.

Interestingly, it measured more than 10 meters with a weight of about four tons. Its skull was full of ridges, furrows, bumps and small horns.

The surprising appearance of the Meraxes gigas

The dinosaur had a huge skull, however, this is not the case with its upper limbs. According to Peter Makovicky, they did not exceed 60 centimetres, ‘that is to say half of the skull’.

Juan Canale, the co-author of the study and project manager at the Ernesto Bachmann Museum in Neuquen, in the south of Argentina, said:

I am convinced that these proportionally reduced arms had a function The skeleton shows large muscle insertions and fully developed pectoral girdles, so the arms had strong muscles.

According to Juan Canale, the appearance of the Meraxes gigas was particularlyhelpful when mating. He said:

They could use their arms for their reproductive behaviour, such as holding the female during mating or supporting themselves to get up after a break or a fall

He explained that the massive skull was like ‘a billboard’ to get noticed by their partners. Indeed an incredible historic discovery.

This article is translated from Gentside FR.

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