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Paleontologists have stumbled upon the fossils of a new dinosaur species in one of the unlikeliest places. The puzzling discovery was made in the Neuquen province of Argentina, in an "unusual" location where one would think to go looking for dinosaur bones.
According to AFP, the newfound dinosaur species belongs to the sauropod group – gigantic herbivores that stood up to 108 feet tall and weighed as much as 120 tones.
As the Inquisitr previously reported, sauropods were the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth. These megaherbivores lived throughout the entire Mesozoic Era, spanning from 251 million to 65 million years ago.
The new sauropod species discovered in Argentina was named Lavocatisaurus agrioensis The genus of sauropod giants, such as Supersaurus, Diplodocus, and Apatosaurus.
The new species is described from fossils to three individuals – one adult and two juveniles. Judging by the size of the bones, the adult Lavocatisaurus agrioensis was about 39 feet long, the two juveniles had only grown to about 20 feet in length.
The first remarkable thing about this is that the fossils were unearthed in an area that would not normally accommodate the gentle giants.
Researchers in Argentina have made the surprising discovery of dinosaur bones from a new species in an unexpected area http://t.co/CB6IGJxB3q
– AFP news agency (@AFP) November 2, 2018
Lavocatisaurus agrioensis roamed the planet 110 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous – a time when the Neuquen site would have been desolate desert region with very few water sources. ace AFP These are some of the most important fossils in the world.
"While one can imagine that this group of sauropods could have adapted to move in the arid environments, with little vegetation, little humidity and little water," said Jose Luis Carballido, a researcher at the Egidio Feruglio museum.
"It's an area in which you would not be looking for fossils."
Carballido is also the co-author of a recent study detailing the discovery of the new sauropod species. The paper was published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
While none of the three Lavocatisaurus agrioensis skeletons was found intact, this is one of the most impressive rebbachisaurus finds that paleontologists have come across in a long time.
3d illustration of a dinosaur rebbachisaurus.
Nobu Tamura
/
Wikimedia Commons
(CC BY 3.0)
The dig at Neuquen yielded an almost complete skull – a rarity among fossil rebbachisaurus – along with parts of the dinosaurs neck, tail, and back. Taken together, the dinosaur remains a feature almost all the bones of a Lavocatisaurus agrioensis, the authors wrote in the study.
"We found most of the cranial bones: the snows, the jaws, a lot of teeth, also the bones that define the eye sockets – for example – and, in that way, we were able to create an almost complete reconstruction," said Carballido.
"Not only is it the discovery of a new species in an area where you would not expect to find fossils, but the skull is almost complete."
Equally notable is the fact that the three Lavocatisaurus agrioensis skeletons were found together – the first time ever that paleontologists uncover rebbachisaurus fossils from multiple individuals.
"This discovery of an adult and two juveniles also means the first record of a displacement group among the dinosaurs' rebbachisaurus," said Jose Ignacio Canudo of Zaragoza University, the lead author of the new sauropod species study.
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