They discovered a new species of dinosaur in Neuquén

A team of Spanish and Argentine paleontologists discovered the remains of three specimens of a new 110-million-year-old dinosaur species in the province of Neuquén, which was at the time a desert region.

This is an adult specimen and two juveniles of this new dinosaur species that they named Lavocatisaurus agrioensis. And his discovery, published in the specialized journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, was made public by the Agency Science, Technology and Society (CTyS) of the National University of La Matanza (UNLAM).

Dr. José Luis Carballido, a researcher at the Egidio Feruglio Museum (MEF) and the National Council of Scientific Research of Argentina (CONICET), told the agency CTyS-UNLaM that "it is not only the discovery of a new species in a place where we did not expect to find fossils, but the skull is practically complete. "

It is a herbivorous rebaquisáurido group sauropods, these quadruped herbivores of the neck and long tail between which were gigantic species weighing more than 70 tons and other dwarves not exceeding 10 meters in length to in adulthood, and who lived from the Upper Triassic to the Upper Cretaceous.

"We found most of the bones that correspond to the skull: the muzzle, the jaws, many teeth, and those that define the eye's orbit, for example, have allowed us to perform a very complete reconstruction." explained Carballido. Parts of the neck, tail and back have also been found.

José Ignacio Canudo, researcher at the University of Zaragoza and lead author of the study, said that "in the case of Lavocatisaurus, we estimate that the adult specimen measured 12 meters, while juveniles measured about 6 meters. at 7 meters ".

"This discovery of an adult and two miners also meant the first record of a group move within the rebaquisáuridos dinosaurs," added the Canudo paleontologist.

In this sense, the expert reminded that at that time, South America and Africa had not finished separating and that rebaquisáuridos were also discovered in Africa and Europe. The province of Neuquén, where the remains were found, is unusual because at that time it was a desert area with sporadic lagoons.

The discovery took place in the center of the province of Neuquén. Carballido explained that "110 million years ago, the environment was very deserted and had sporadic lagoons. So we abandoned the search for fossils; Although it is believed that this group of sauropods could have been adapted to move in rather arid environments, with low vegetation, low humidity and little water, it is an environment in which one would not look for fossils ".

An incredible discovery

The same aridity of the environment indicates that the fossil remains of these three specimens were not moved and collected by a water channel, but were moved together and died together. There is no way of knowing if there was a relationship between the members of this group. It will be left to the imagination to guess if it was a father or a mother with two of their children.

In this sense, the expert reminded that at that time, South America and Africa had not finished separating and that rebaquisáuridos were also discovered in Africa and Europe. In fact, the first discovery of a rebaquisáurido was made in the Sahara desert in 1950 by the paleontologist René Lavocat and, in his honor, it is that this new species of Neuquén called Lavocatisaurus .

The province of Neuquén, where the remains were found, is unusual because at that time it was a desert area with sporadic lagoons. "Although it is thought that this group of sauropods could have been adapted to move in rather arid environments, with low vegetation, little moisture and little water, it is an environment in which one would not look for fossils, "concluded Carballido.

The Lavocatisaurus study was conducted by a Hispanic-Argentinean team composed of researchers José Ignacio Canudo (IUCA University of Zaragoza), José Luis Carballido (MEF-CONICET), Alberto Garrido (MOZ-Neuquén) and Leonardo Salgado (UNRN) – CONICET).

Previously, in Nigeria, a fairly complete skull had been found in the group of rebaquisáurids. "The skull of Lavocatisaurus is very different, more basal and with more primitive characteristics," concluded Canudo.