Palaeontologists shocked to find remains examples of herbivore
living in what was likely a desert
Palaeontologists have unearthed the remains of a previously
unknown species of dinosaur that
lived 110 million years ago in Argentina.
The remains of three separate members of the new species, an
adult and two juveniles, were discovered by a team of Spanish and Argentinian
scientists at a site in Neuquen in the centre of the South American country.
The new species, named Lavocatisaurus
agrioensi, is a member of the herbivourous group of dinosaurs known
as sauropods, which includes the likes of the diplodocus and brontosaurus.
Scientists said remains that belonged to the adult suggested
it would have been around 12 metres in length, while both the young discovered
were between six and seven metres long.
“We found most of the cranial bones: the snout, the jaws, a
lot of teeth, also the bones that define the eye sockets for example and, in
that way, we were able to create an almost complete reconstruction,” Jose Luis
Carballido, a researcher at the Egidio Feruglio museum told Agence France-Presse.
“Not only is this the discovery of a new species in an area
where you wouldn't expect to find fossils, but the skull is almost complete.”
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