Context:
Palaeontologists from Argentina have discovered a new medium-sized herbivorous Dinosaur that lived approximately 90 million years ago.
About Chakisaurus Nekul
Name:
- It is named Chakisaurus nekul, .
- The dinosaur’s name derives from Chaki, which is a word from the Aonikenk language (In the Patagonia region), of the indigenous Tehuelche people, which means “old guanaco”, a reference to a medium-sized herbivore mammal found in the region.
- Nekul means “fast” or “agile” in the Mapudungún language (in Argentine and Chile), of the local Mapuche people.
Characteristics:
- It was a bipedal (using only two legs for walking) herbivore that among its most important characteristics had a tail and very strong hind limbs that, unlike other dinosaurs.
- The dinosaur was a good fast runner, which was something it needed because it lived with a large number of predators, and its only defense was to be faster than them.
Geographical:
- It was found in the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro, Argentine.
- This region is rich in fossils, where many mammals, turtles, and fish have been found along with other species of dinosaur
Size:
- The largest Chakisaurus reached 2.5 or 3 meters long and was 70 centimeters high (8 to 10 feet long and 27 inches high).
- Dinosaurs lived about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period in present-day Patagonia.
- The Late Cretaceous period lasted from 100.5 million years ago to 66 million years ago.
Discovery
A team of Argentine paleontologists with the support of the National Geographic Society, made the discovery initially in 2018 but recently unveiled their finding in the journal Cretaceous Research.
Paleontologist: It is a scientist who studies the history of life on Earth through the fossil record.
National Geographic Society: It is a nonprofit organization founded in 1888 committed to exploring and protecting our planet and to the “increase and diffusion of knowledge”.