Dinosaurs, which went extinct millions of years ago, are among the most interesting creatures to have set foot on our planet. Scientists continue their research on these species without slowing down. It was recently revealed that the eyes of T.Rex, a fairly large dinosaur species, shrank to have a stronger jaw.
Now, scientists in Argentina have announced that they have found a small and spiny dinosaur fossil. This dinosaur, which was stated to weigh as much as a domestic cat, was named ‘Jakapil kaniukura’, and it was stated that the species may have lived in the Cretaceous period 94-97 million years ago.
The 1.5-metre-long species shows armored dinosaurs also lived in the Southern Hemisphere
According to the researchers, this new species is thought to be a primitive relative of armored dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus and belongs to the Thyreophora group. It is also among the explanations that Jakapil kaniukura is a plant-feeding species with 1.5-meter-long leaf-shaped teeth.
The fossil was found in the province of Rio Negro in Argentina. The study findings, published in the journal Nature Reports, also revealed that the species has a strong jaw for eating hard, woody plants.
Paleontologists also report that with this study, armored dinosaurs were also seen living in the Southern Hemisphere. Dinosaurs in the Thyreophora group, which includes the armored dinosaurs, were generally believed to live in the Northern Hemisphere. “The discovery of J.kanikura shows that early thyreophoranes had a much wider geographical distribution than previously thought,” said the researchers.
The researchers created a computer simulation to see what the newly discovered species looks like in real life. In the video below you can see how this species roams our planet.
24692
