- Title: ARGENTINA: Paleontologists in Argentina announce rare dinosaur discovery
- Date: 25th October 2012
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (OCTOBER 25, 2012) (REUTERS) GENERAL OF NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF MODEL ALNASHETRI PALEONTOLOGIST, SEBASTIAN APESTEGUIA, TALKING TO REPORTERS
- Embargoed: 9th November 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: History,Science
- Reuters ID: LVA6HTKONKKCK5QTPMD63I4OGKLL
- Story Text: Palaeontologists in Argentina have unveiled a model replica of a recently discovered dinosaur known as alnashetri cerropoliciensis, belonging to the theropod genus of dinosaur.
While the most famous therapod is undoubtedly the tyrannosaurus rex, the massive meat-eating dinosaur that roamed the earth about 65 million years ago, the alnashetri is about the size of a hen and is thought to be much older than its giant cousin.
"What we found are the remains of a special kind of carnivorous dinosaur that are known as alvarezsauridae, a kind of dinosaur that has been found a lot in Argentina. There are approximately five species but what's surprising is that the Alnashetri, which is this new little dinosaur, is much older than the ones we have found up until now. It's older than the other ones we have found in Argentina and older than ones found in other parts of the world. As a result, it gives us the opportunity to re-evaluate the origins of this group," said palaeontologist, Sebastian Apesteguia at a news conference in Buenos Aires on Thursday (October 25).
"As you can see in this model, it's a small animal the size of a magpie or a hen - this is more or less the size of the Alnashetri, which allows us to see that it is quite a small alvarezsauridae, because normally they are about two metres long. So the Alnashetri is very small and the fact that it's smaller and older makes us think that the group originated as a group of small dinosaurs in which some later grew," added Apesteguia.
The fossils of the tiny dinosaur were discovered in La Buitrera in Argentina's Rio Negro province in an area known as the Candeleros Formation - a rock formation running through the provinces of Rio Negro, Neuquen and Mendoza and the site of a vast array fossil finds.
"We started going to the location and finding a large quantity of fossils, not only the kind of fossils that were found by the palaeontologists Walter Schiller and Santiago Roth in 1922, but fossils in different layers which are older and smaller. And these are small dinosaurs, and small vertebrates because we have the mammal with the sharp pointed teeth that is called cronopio and looks like a little squirrel from the ice age, and a snake with feet, the predecessor to a kind of lizard which today lives in New Zealand. Also we have found other carnivorous dinosaurs like the buitreraptor, and a large quantity of fossils that makes it a very important discovery region. As a result, we go back as often as we can and we find surprises like the Alnashetri and other animals that we are also getting ready to exhibit," said Apesteguia.
The Alnashetri is believed to have lived about 97 million years ago in the same period as the Giganotosaurus, a massive carnivorous dinosaur that was also discovered in Argentina's fossil-laden Candeleros Formation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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