Argentine experts have discovered the near-complete remains of a new species of Jurassic-era dinosaur that stood on its rear legs and had tiny arms, a leading paleontologist said Thursday.
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(AFP) |
The find belongs to the Abelisaurus family, "the most common carnivorous species in the southern hemisphere during the Cretaceous Period," some 70 to 100 million years ago, paleontologist Diego Pol told AFP.
"However the fossils that we found are some 170 million years old," from the earlier Jurassic Period, Pol said.
The creature looks a bit like a scaled-down Tyrannosaurus rex, but with even smaller arms.
The new species, baptized Eoabelisaurus mefi, predates the oldest known member of the Abelisauri lineage by more than 40 million years.
Unlike its descendants, this six-meter long creature creature "has completely reduced arms and tiny claws, which implies that it used only its very sharp teeth to feed itself," Pol said.
Abelisauri remains have been found only in the southern hemisphere.
Experts believe a great desert in the Earth's single land mass at the time, Pangea, could have acted as a geographic barrier, preventing the species from spreading north. (AFP)
<관련 한글 기사>
‘티렉스 사촌’ 새로운 공룡 발견되다!
아르헨티나에서 티라노사우루스와 꼭 닮은 쥬라기 시대 공룡화석이 발견되어 화제가 되고 있다.
에오벨리사우루스 메피(Eoabelisaurus mefi)라고 명명된 이 공룡은 백악기 시대에 남반구에서 가장 흔했던 공룡 종류인 아벨리사우루스 (Abelisaurus) 과에 속하는 것으로 1억 7천만년전에 살았을 것으로 추정된다.
몸길이가 6미터 정도인 이 공룡은 큰 머리와 작은 앞다리 등 티라노사우루스와 꼭 닮은 형태를 하고 있으나, 앞다리의 힘은 더욱 덜 발달되어 있어 오직 턱뼈만을 이용해 먹이를 섭취했을 것이라고 한다.
에오벨리사우루스의 화석은 남반구에서만 발견되는데, 전문가들은 이 공룡이 살았던 당시 존재했던 거대한 사막이 다른 지역으로의 이주를 막았을 것으로 추측하고 있다. (코리아헤럴드)
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