A team of paleontologists in Argentina have discovered the remains of the largest dinosaur ever recorded of the predatory genus Megaraptor, during excavations in Patagonia.
A new species of dinosaur called Mabe Macrothorax.
The scientist Mauro Aranciaga Rolando, who participated in the discovery, said that the length of the dinosaur ranged between nine and ten meters, while the length of other (Megaraptor) dinosaurs did not exceed nine meters.
“The size of this animal is very large and we were able to find a lot of its remains,” Aranciaga Rolando told Reuters when the fossils were displayed at Argentina’s Bernardino Rivadavia Museum of Natural Sciences in the capital, Buenos Aires.
The National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, where the experts who discovered the dinosaur fossil work, said it was discovered in March 2019 in the Patagonia region of Santa Cruz, days before strict restrictions were imposed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
Because of the pandemic, scientists initially had to distribute the fossil among them and analyze it in their homes. Two Japanese scientists also participated in the Argentine expedition.
This carnivorous dinosaur is believed to have lived in what is now the southern tip of Argentina 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous period.
Aranciaga Rolando said Megaraptor dinosaurs had a graceful skeleton, a long tail that allowed them to maneuver and keep their balance, as well as a long neck and an elongated skull with more than 60 small teeth. He explained that the sharp ends of the dinosaur (Maeb) were the most dangerous weapon for that animal.
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