New giant dinosaur species discovered in Chile

Chilean paleontologists on Monday announced the discovery of a new species of giant dinosaurs called Arackar licanantay.

The dinosaur belongs to the titanosaur dinosaur family tree, but is unique in the world because of its vertebrae.

The Arackar licanantay – a native language name of Kunza meaning “Atacameño bones” – lived in what is now the Atacama region, at the end of the Cretaceous, 80 to 66 million years ago.

The fossil sample belongs to a large, four-legged herbivore of about 6.3 meters (20’8 “), but scientists have determined that the remains are those of a juvenile.

Adults are expected to grow 8 meters tall (26 ‘).

The bones – a femur, humerus, sciatica and vertebral elements of the neck and back – were first discovered in the 1990s by the geologist Carlos Arévalo.

Arévalo excavated the sample with experts from Chile’s National Geology and Mining Service, during a 75-kilometer excavation south of the city of Copiapó, in the Atacama region.

David Rubilar, Head of the Department of Paleontology at the National Museum of Natural History of Chile (MNHN), led the team responsible for the discovery of experts from the National Museum of Natural History of Chile, the paleontological network of the University of Chile and the Laboratory for Dinosaurs of the National University of Argentina, in Cuyo, Argentina.

The discovery of a new species of dinosaurs was formally announced in an article published in the magazine Chalk research.

© 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.