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Argentina scientists unearth dinosaur with ‘puny arms’ and hard head

- Reuters in Buenos Aires

Scientists in Argentina have unearthed the remains of a previously unknown species of meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 70m years ago that had puny arms and may have used its powerful head to ram its prey.

The fossil skull of the Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai, was discovered in Argentina’s north-western Salta province. The researcher­s said it likely belongs to a carnivorou­s group of dinosaurs called abelisaurs, which walked on two legs and possessed only stub-like arms, even shorter than those of North America’s Tyrannosau­rus rex.

The short arms may have forced Guemesia to rely on its powerful skull and jaws, the researcher­s said.

“It’s so unique and so different from other carnivorou­s dinosaurs, which allows us to understand that we’re dealing with a totally new species,” Federico Agnolin, lead author of a study on the dinosaur published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontolo­gy and a researcher with Argentine national science council Coincet, told Reuters.

The animal, possibly a juvenile, lived just a few million years before an asteroid impact at what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula wiped out about three-quarters of Earth’s species including the dinosaurs about 66m years ago.

Scientists believe abelisaurs roamed what is now Africa, South America and India, and several dozen specimens have previously been dug up in Argentina – nearly all of them in southern Patagonia, far from the site of Guemesia’s discovery.

“We know it had a very sharp sense of smell and was short-sighted,” said Agnolin, noting that it would have walked upright on its large feet, with its solid cranium leading the way.

“Some scientists think that could mean the animal hunted its prey by charging them with its head,” Agnolin added.

The discovery adds to Argentina’s reputation as a treasure trove of fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistori­c creatures.

Guemesia takes its name from Argentine independen­ce hero Martin Miguel de Guemes and Javier Ochoa, a museum worker who made the discovery.

 ?? ?? Part of a skull base of a dinosaur in Buenos Aires in 2019. The fossil skull of the Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai, was discovered in Argentina’s north-western Salta province Photograph: National Scientific And Technical Research Council/Reuters
Part of a skull base of a dinosaur in Buenos Aires in 2019. The fossil skull of the Cretaceous period dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai, was discovered in Argentina’s north-western Salta province Photograph: National Scientific And Technical Research Council/Reuters

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