As Science Alert reports, a team of paleontologists has discovered the remains of a previously unknown dinosaur species in Argentina. Researchers estimate that this dinosaur came from the Cretaceous period, the last of the dinosaurs, and walked on Earth between 97 million and 94 million years ago.
Paleontologists said in a scientific report published last week that these remains may represent an entire species of armored dinosaur in the Southern Hemisphere that was previously unknown to science.
The newly discovered species, Jakapil kaniukura, is thought to be related to thyreophoran species (armored dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus) due to rows of bony disc-shaped armor on the dinosaur’s neck, back, and tail.
Early in their research, the team came up with a few findings: The species is said to be bipedal and small, about one and a half feet long and weighing in at a house cat. The dinosaur is also said to be a herbivore with leaf-shaped teeth, similar to its Stegosaurus relatives.
The remains were discovered in the Río Negro province in northern Patagonia by a team of international paleontologists from the Félix de Azara Foundation for Natural History in Argentina. The lead researchers wrote in the report that these remains represent the first definitive thyreophoran species from Argentine Patagonia and show that early thyreophorans had a much wider geographic distribution than previously thought.
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