Palaeontologists have announced the discovery of a previously unknown small, armoured dinosaur in southern Argentina.
Key points:
Named jakapil kaniukura, the dinosaur weighed up to 7 kilograms
The dinosaur is part of the thyreophoran group that includes the likes of stegosaurus
Lead paleontologist Sebastián Apesteguía said the discovery was a first of its kind
The Cretaceous period dinosaur, named jakapil kaniukura, marks a first-of-its-kind discovery of an armoured dinosaur from the Cretaceous in South America.
Scientists believe the dinosaur likely walked upright on its back legs and roamed about 100 million years ago.
With rows of bony disk-shaped armour along its neck, back and down to its tail, the dinosaur is believed to have been well-protected.
It measured about 5 feet (1.5 metres) long and weighed between 4 kilograms and 7kg, similar to an average house cat.
Its fossilised remains were dug up over the past decade near a dam in Patagonia in Rio Negro province’s La Buitrera paleontological zone.
The scientists described jakapil in a study published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports.
It is part of the thyreophoran dinosaur group that includes the likes of stegosaurus, known for its bony back plates and spiky tail, and tank-like ankylosaurus, covered in armour and wielding a club-like tail.
Lead paleontologist Sebastián Apesteguía and his colleagues found a partial skeleton of jakapil along with 15 tooth fragments featuring a leaf-like shape, similar to iguana teeth.
Jakapil resembles a primitive form of thyreophoran that lived much earlier, making it a surprise that it dated from the Cretaceous.
Professor Apesteguía said never before had such a thyreophoran been dug up anywhere in the southern hemisphere.
Reuters