Discovery of partially complete skull suggests new evidence of ecosystem from Late Cretaceous period
A new dinosaur has been discovered in the north of Argentina, according to researchers.
The fossilized remains are of a new species called Guemesia Ochoai, found in Los Blanquitos Formation, a geological formation near Amblayo in Salta Province.
The researchers from the Natural History Museum in London say that the discovery may be a close relative of a group of armless dinosaurs -- dating back to around 70 million years ago.
The discovery of a partially complete skull suggests new evidence of an ecosystem from the Late Cretaceous period.
The discovery of a Guemesia Ochoai dinosaur was made in northern Argentina where there are few types of such fossils.
Researchers believe that it may have been part of the Abelisauridae group of ceratosaurian theropod dinosaurs - a family of carnivorous dinosaurs with small front limbs and drawing resemblances to a T-Rex.
The Abelisauridae, typically, used their powerful head and jaws to capture prey and ranged from 16 to 30 feet in length.
The species flourished during the Cretaceous period and roamed across Patagonia and other areas of the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana - a landmass that eventually split into Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.
Professor Anjali Goswami, research leader at the Museum and co-author said that the new dinosaur is quite unusual, noting "it has several key characteristics that suggest that is a new species, providing important new information about an area of the world which we don't know a lot about."
Goswami added: "It shows that the dinosaurs that live in this region were quite different from those in other parts of Argentina, supporting the idea of distinct provinces in the Cretaceous of South America."
"It also shows us that there is lot more to be discovered in these areas that get less attention than some of the more famous fossil sites," said Goswami
Abelisaurid fossils have been located before in Africa, South America, India and Europe and Argentina, where notably 35 species have been described to date.
Most of Argentina’s fossils have been discovered in the South but few have been located in the northwest of Argentina.
