A team of Argentine paleontologists have discovered a megaraptor fossil from a new species named Maip macrothorax that roamed the forests of Argentina around 70-million years ago. The dinosaur measured between 9-10 meters (29.5-32.8 feet) long, while other “megaraptors” were no longer than 9-meters. The fossils were excavated in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz.
The megaraptor is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived during the Turonian to Coniacian ages of the Late Cretaceous, and was initially thought to have been a giant dromaeosaur-like coelurosaur. Its hands were unusually elongated, sporting sickle-shaped claws that bend even more backwards than those of spinosaurids. It’s only a matter of time before we see a real-life Jurassic Park with animatronic versions of these dinosaurs, similar to this robotic dolphin.
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This animal is very large in size and we were able to recover a lot of remains. For the Tehuelches, Maip represented the shadow that death leaves in its wake, while we imagine that, during the Cretaceous, this great predator with its enormous size would have caused something similar,” said Aranciaga Rolando, first author of the study.
