"Armless killer" discovered

(NLDO) - The Koleken inakayali monster looks similar to its T-rex relative but has smoother skin and its forelimbs have almost disappeared.

Strange fossils unearthed in Argentina's Patagonia region have helped paleontologists identify not just a new species but a new genus of dinosaur. It is the Koleken inakayali, belonging to the genus Furileusauria.

This species lived 69 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous period, just 3 million years before the Chicxulub asteroid disaster wiped out all dinosaurs, pterosaurs, mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs...

The new beast Koleken inakayali's appearance is recreated - Photo: Gabriel Díaz Yantén

According to analysis by a research team from Argentina's Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council of Argentina, the new species belongs to a larger group of dinosaurs called Abelisauridae.

Abelisauridae is a distant relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex, which has been diverging since the mid-Jurassic period.

Therefore, the new monster's appearance has many similarities with T-rex and has the characteristics of theropod dinosaurs in general, including strong hind legs and shrunken "hands".

Koleken inakayali is perhaps one of the most severely atrophied "arms" in its family, with depictions showing them as little more than two scraps of flesh.

However, the fossil remains found of Koleken inakayali, including several skulls, nearly complete hind limbs and other skeletal parts, are enough to show that it was a dangerous carnivorous beast, according to the article published in the scientific journal Cladistics.

The fossil was found in the La Colonia Formation in the Cerro Bayo Norte area, eastern Sierra de La Colonia, Chubut province, Patagonia - Argentina.

The entire Patagonia region was home to a wide variety of ancient beasts, including herbivorous dinosaurs, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians.

Previously, another close relative of Koleken inakayali, Carnotaurus sastrei, was also found at La Colonia.

This discovery adds to the growing body of evidence that Abelisaurids were the most abundant group of theropod dinosaurs during the Late Cretaceous, occurring in all regions of the southern supercontinent of Gondwana, except Antarctica and Oceania.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/phat-hien-sat-thu-khong-tay-loai-quai-thu-moi-o-nam-my-196240528105309885.htm