Remains of small armor-plated dinosaur unearthed in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 11 (Reuters) – Paleontologists on Thursday heralded the invention of a beforehand unknown small armored dinosaur in southern Argentina, a creature that doubtless walked upright on its again legs roaming a then-steamy panorama about 100 million years in the past.

The Cretaceous Interval dinosaur, named Jakapil kaniukura, would have been well-protected with rows of bony disk-shaped armor alongside its neck and again and right down to its tail, they stated. It measured about 5 ft (1.5 meters) lengthy and weighed solely 9 to fifteen kilos (4-7 kg), just like a median home cat.

Its fossilized stays have been dug up over the previous decade close to a dam in Patagonia in Rio Negro province’s La Buitrera paleontological zone. The scientists described Jakapil in a research revealed within the journal Scientific Reports.

The scientists stated Jakapil marks a first-of-its-kind discovery of an armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous in South America. It’s a part of the thyreophoran dinosaur group that features the likes of Stegosaurus, identified for its bony again plates and spiky tail, and tank-like Ankylosaurus, lined in armor and wielding a club-like tail.

Lead paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia and his colleagues discovered a partial skeleton of Jakapil together with 15 tooth fragments that includes a leaf-like form, just like iguana enamel.

Jakapil resembles a primitive type of thyreophoran that lived a lot earlier, making it a shock that it dated from the Cretaceous. Apesteguia stated by no means earlier than has such a thyreophoran been dug up wherever within the southern hemisphere.

Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Enhancing by Will Dunham

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