Short-armed raptor found in Argentina
11:39AM Thursday December 18, 2008
Source: Reuters
An unusual raptor dinosaur found in Argentina is the largest of its kind found so far in the Southern Hemisphere, with awkwardly short arms that made it resemble a Tyrannosaurus, researchers reported.
The creature would have weighed 368 kg (800 pounds) and been nearly 5 metres (15 feet) long when it hunted in what is now Patagonia 100 million to 65 million years ago, the researchers said.
The discovery sheds light on the evolution of dromaeosaurids, birdlike dinosaurs that ran on two legs and are considered by many to have been the most intelligent of the dinosaurs.
Fernando Novas of the Museo Argentino des Ciencias Naturales and colleagues named the newly discovered species Austroraptor cabazai - from austral in reference to southern South America, and raptor meaning thief. The cabazai honors the late Alberto Cabaza, founder of the Museo Municipal de Lamarque, whose researchers also helped in the work.
More:
http://tvnz.co.nz/technology-news/short-armed-raptor-found-in-argentina-2424490~~~~~~~~~~~New dinosaur species similar to T.rex is uncovered in Argentina
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:57 AM on 17th December 2008
More:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1096383/New-dinosaur-species-similar-T-rex-uncovered-Argentina.html~~~~~~~~~~~Giant Austroraptor discovered in Argentina
Posted 53 minutes ago
Updated 52 minutes ago
The fossils of a newly discovered, meat-eating raptor dinosaur, one of the biggest and perhaps most recent to live in Argentina's Patagonia region 70 million years ago, have been presented at a Buenos Aires museum.
The fossils of the dinosaur named "Austroraptor cabazai" were found at Bajo de Santa Rosa, in Rio Negro province, which has already yielded several species of herbivore dinosaurs, during paleontological digs funded by the US National Geographic Society.
Measuring five metres in length with a long, flat cranium, short forearms, and jaws full of sharp teeth, Austroraptor was among the largest of the raptors, and belonged to the dromaeosaurids or birdlike dinosaurs that walked on two legs, the most famous of which was the Velociraptor mongoliensis.
The Austroraptor was found in rock formations dating to 70 million years' ago, making it one of the last dinosaurs to walk in Patagonia before they became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period 145 to 65 million years' ago.
More:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/18/2449747.htm
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