Scientists discover a new breed of dinosaur the size of a dog
Scientists in Argentina recently discovered the fossils of a type of dinosaur about the size of a dog, with a hard, armored shell on its back, a distinctive jaw and small arms.
Fossils dating back to the wet late Cretaceous period, nearly 100 million years ago, indicate that the dinosaur "Jacapil Kanyukura" was walking on two legs, unlike most other dinosaurs in its family, according to the American newspaper " Washington Post ".
Jakabel Kanyukura, a plant eater, had a shell made of armor plates over its body to protect it from predators, and was roughly the weight of a Boston Terrier, according to research published last week in the journal Scientific Reports.
new breed
Jakabel's discovery sheds light on a previously unknown lineage of the armored dinosaur family, which includes the much larger Stegosaurus, in the Southern Hemisphere.
"For Argentines, Jacapel, who is part of a wide range of discoveries, completes the missing letter of our dinosaur alphabet, and for the first time we can show the alphabet of dinosaurs that lived in Argentina," researcher Sebastian Apisteguia said in a statement.
The name "Jackabell" comes from the crest found in the lower part of the dinosaur's jaw, whose function scientists have not identified. The researchers said that "Kaniokura" means "the top of the stone" in the language of the indigenous Mapuche people.
Jakabel's teeth were also unusual. While most herbivorous dinosaurs had similar leaf-shaped teeth on both jaws, the newly discovered dinosaurs' teeth were shaped differently on each jaw, and their teeth appeared to be worn out.
Journey of discovery
The path to reconstructing the dinosaur's body began in 2012, when researcher Sebastian Apisteguia toured the ancient La Puetrera region, where other dinosaurs were discovered, and found two small bones that he could not identify. Two years later, he and other scientists found a skeleton with unusual teeth and a lump-like jaw.
The researcher realized that this fossil belonged to a type of armored dinosaur, and continued to collect bones until 2020, when the reconstruction of the skeleton of this species was completed.
The desert area is uninhabitable for many species, so it tends to have fossils of a few animals, Abestiguia says.
He added: "Jackabell is a very small and rare dinosaur, and it is clear that it loved to navigate through desert environments." Scientists shared a video of the reconstruction of this species.
Each year, paleontologists identify dozens of species of dinosaurs that are discovered. And in 2021, Australian scientists announced the discovery of a dinosaur the size of a basketball court.
But many dinosaurs do not fossilize, which means that scientists have not yet discovered all the existing species, according to the science news site Gizmodo.
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