Dinosaurs | Scientists discover new species of dinosaur and name it after hit series dragon – small hands may have helped with mating

A previously unknown species of dinosaur was found in the northern part of Patagonia. The research work took a long time, because the skull of an individual dinosaur was found already in 2012.

From Argentina A previously unknown species of dinosaur has been found in the northern part of Patagonia, reports news agency AFP.

According to the paleontologists who studied the discovery, the newly discovered species had small hands and a large head in the same way as the world’s most famous prehistoric predator With Tyrannosaurus rex.

However, researchers have found that the species are far apart on the genetic map. The new species became extinct 20 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex the beginning of the reign.

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New the species was named Meraxes gigas. Meraxes is Game of Thrones -the name of the dragon in the book series. In the television series, the dragon appears only as a mention. Gigas, on the other hand, is Latin and means giant.

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Found Meraxes gigas -fossil’s skull is about 127 centimeters long, and according to the researchers’ estimate, its total length was slightly less than 11 meters. The lizard weighed about four tons when it was alive.

Despite this, its arms were only about 60 centimeters long.

“The hand is literally half the length of the skull, and it couldn’t reach its own mouth with them,” says a paleontologist from the University of Minnesota who was involved in the research Peter Makovicky for AFP.

The dinosaur skeleton was found in Las Campanas canyon in Argentina.

Researchers according to which the lizard’s small hands were not an evolutionary accident. Makovicky says that over time, the head became the most important tool of the predators at the top of the food chain.

As the importance of the heads of top predators in predation increased, their forelimbs became smaller. Smaller predators had larger hands for their size.

However, dinosaurs had to do more than just prey. When the giant lizard fell, it could use its muscular arms to get back up, according to researchers. Research project manager Juan Canale tells AFP that the giant lizard could also use its hands to hold the female lizard in place during mating.

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Read more: A new, big-nosed dinosaur was found in Britain when a researcher started rummaging through boxes of bones

A dinosaur the discovery and definition of the species finally took almost a decade. The skull was already found in 2012, and the rest of the skeleton was excavated over the course of four years.

“We won the lottery when we found the skull literally the first morning,” says Makovicky.

Meraxes gigas i.e. around 90–100 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, when its habitat was wetter, more forested and significantly closer to the sea. According to the researchers, its prey animals were mainly sauropods, i.e. long-necked plant-eating dinosaurs.

A reconstruction of the skull of Meraxes gigas shows the folds and grooves on it.

The found individual lived to be about 40 years old, which according to the researchers is a respectable age for a dinosaur.

The dinosaur’s skull has small horns, ridges and grooves, and according to the researchers, it looked menacing, even grim. According to researchers, such traits may mean that Meraxes gigas -the lizard’s skull served as a kind of billboard for potential mating partners.

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