Paleontologists in Argentina have discovered a new species of dinosaur, with disproportionately short arms like those of Tyrannosaurus rex.
A fossil of Meraxes gigas, as the new dinosaur has been called, was found in what is now the northern Patagonia region of Argentina, revealing that the creature was 11 meters (36 feet) long and weighed more than four tons, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology on Thursday.
At the time the area would have been hot and humid with lots of waterways and vegetation including large trees, Juan Canale, the project lead at Ernesto Bachmann Paleontological Museum in Neuquén, Argentina, told CNN.
The carnivore is from the Carcharodontosauridae group of dinosaurs, which lived in the Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million years ago, according to the study.
A raft of Carcharodontosauridae fossils have been found in the past 30 years, but little was known about their skull, forearms or feet.
That has changed with the discovery of M. gigas, thanks to the remarkably complete fossil.
source cnn.com
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