New Giant Dinosaur Predator Discovered With Tiny Arms Like T. Rex

Paleontologists said Thursday they discovered a new species of giant carnivorous dinosaur that had a huge head and tiny arms, just like Tyrannosaurus rex. The researchers’ findings, published in the journal Current Biologysuggest that the small forelimbs were not an evolutionary accident, but gave the era’s top predators some survival advantages. Meraxes gigas – named after a fictional dragon in the Game of Thrones book series – was discovered over the course of four years during field trips in Argentina’s northern Patagonia region, starting with the skull found in 2012. “We won the lottery and found it literally the first morning,” lead author Peter Makovicky of the University of Minnesota told AFP. The fossil remains were extremely well preserved. The skull is just over four feet (127 cm) long, while the entire animal would have been about 36 feet long and weighed four metric tons. Its arms were two feet long, “so they’re literally half the length of the skull, and the animal wouldn’t have been able to reach its mouth,” Makovicky said. T. Rex didn’t get its tiny arms from M. Gigas. The latter became extinct 20 million years before the former appeared, and the two species were far apart on the evolutionary tree. This image shows the transport of a plaster jacket of a new Meraxes gigas dinosaur, in Las Campanas Canyon, 25 kilometers southwest of Villa El Chocon, Neuquen Province, Argentina, on March 17, 2014. Instead, the authors believe that the fact that tyrannosaurids, carcharodontosaurids—the group Meraxes belonged to—and a third giant predator species called abelisaurids all evolved tiny arms shows some benefits. Makovicky believes that as their heads grew, it became the dominant tool in their predatory arsenal, taking over the function that the forelimbs would have had in smaller species. Co-author Juan Canale, project leader at the Ernesto Bachmann Paleontological Museum in Neuquen, Argentina, went further to suggest other advantages. Pairing and movement support “I’m convinced that these proportionally tiny hands had some kind of function. The skeleton shows large muscle insertions and fully developed pectoral girdles, so the hand had strong muscles,” he said in a statement. “They may have used the arms for reproductive behavior, such as holding the female during mating or supporting herself to get back up after a break or a fall.” This image shows the excavation site of a new dinosaur, Meraxes gigas, in Las Campanas Canyon, 25 kilometers southwest of Villa El Chocon, Neuquen Province, Argentina, on March 15, 2014. Meraxes roamed the Earth 90 to 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous, at a time when the region was wetter, more forested and much closer to the sea, Makovicky said. They would have plundered a menagerie of modern sauropods—some of which were discovered at the same site. The individual lived about 40 years – a ripe age for dinosaurs – and its skull was full of ridges, grooves, bumps and small horns. “It would definitely look very imposing and gargoyle-like,” Makovicky said. “These are the kinds of traits that in living animals are often under sexual selection,” suggesting the species used its massive skulls as “posters” to advertise to would-be mates. New giant carnivorous dinosaur discovered with tiny arms like T. rex More info: Juan I. Canale, New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction, Current Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(22)00860-0 © 2022 AFP
Reference: New giant dinosaur predator discovered with tiny arms, like T. rex (2022 July 10) retrieved July 10, 2022 by
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title: “New Giant Dinosaur Predator Discovered With Tiny Arms Like T. Rex " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-15” author: “Michael Alderson”

Paleontologists said Thursday they discovered a new species of giant carnivorous dinosaur that had a huge head and tiny arms, just like Tyrannosaurus rex. The researchers’ findings, published in the journal Current Biologysuggest that the small forelimbs were not an evolutionary accident, but gave the era’s top predators some survival advantages. Meraxes gigas – named after a fictional dragon in the Game of Thrones book series – was discovered over the course of four years during field trips in Argentina’s northern Patagonia region, starting with the skull found in 2012. “We won the lottery and found it literally the first morning,” lead author Peter Makovicky of the University of Minnesota told AFP. The fossil remains were extremely well preserved. The skull is just over four feet (127 cm) long, while the entire animal would have been about 36 feet long and weighed four metric tons. Its arms were two feet long, “so they’re literally half the length of the skull, and the animal wouldn’t have been able to reach its mouth,” Makovicky said. T. Rex didn’t get its tiny arms from M. Gigas. The latter became extinct 20 million years before the former appeared, and the two species were far apart on the evolutionary tree. This image shows the transport of a plaster jacket of a new Meraxes gigas dinosaur, in Las Campanas Canyon, 25 kilometers southwest of Villa El Chocon, Neuquen Province, Argentina, on March 17, 2014. Instead, the authors believe that the fact that tyrannosaurids, carcharodontosaurids—the group Meraxes belonged to—and a third giant predator species called abelisaurids all evolved tiny arms shows some benefits. Makovicky believes that as their heads grew, it became the dominant tool in their predatory arsenal, taking over the function that the forelimbs would have had in smaller species. Co-author Juan Canale, project leader at the Ernesto Bachmann Paleontological Museum in Neuquen, Argentina, went further to suggest other advantages. Pairing and movement support “I’m convinced that these proportionally tiny hands had some kind of function. The skeleton shows large muscle insertions and fully developed pectoral girdles, so the hand had strong muscles,” he said in a statement. “They may have used the arms for reproductive behavior, such as holding the female during mating or supporting herself to get back up after a break or a fall.” This image shows the excavation site of a new dinosaur, Meraxes gigas, in Las Campanas Canyon, 25 kilometers southwest of Villa El Chocon, Neuquen Province, Argentina, on March 15, 2014. Meraxes roamed the Earth 90 to 100 million years ago during the Cretaceous, at a time when the region was wetter, more forested and much closer to the sea, Makovicky said. They would have plundered a menagerie of modern sauropods—some of which were discovered at the same site. The individual lived about 40 years – a ripe age for dinosaurs – and its skull was full of ridges, grooves, bumps and small horns. “It would definitely look very imposing and gargoyle-like,” Makovicky said. “These are the kinds of traits that in living animals are often under sexual selection,” suggesting the species used its massive skulls as “posters” to advertise to would-be mates. New giant carnivorous dinosaur discovered with tiny arms like T. rex More info: Juan I. Canale, New giant carnivorous dinosaur reveals convergent evolutionary trends in theropod arm reduction, Current Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.057. www.cell.com/current-biology/f … 0960-9822(22)00860-0 © 2022 AFP
Reference: New giant dinosaur predator discovered with tiny arms, like T. rex (2022 July 10) retrieved July 10, 2022 by
This document is subject to copyright. Except for any fair dealing for purposes of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Content is provided for informational purposes only.

title: “New Giant Dinosaur Predator Discovered With Tiny Arms Like T. Rex " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-02” author: “Ona Hall”

Its arms were two feet long, “so they’re literally half the length of the skull, and the animal wouldn’t have been able to reach its mouth,” Makovicky said. T. Rex didn’t get its tiny arms from M. Gigas. The latter became extinct 20 million years before the former appeared, and the two species were far apart on the evolutionary tree. Instead, the authors believe that the fact that tyrannosaurids, carcharodontosaurids—the group Meraxes belonged to—and a third giant predator species called abelisaurids all evolved tiny arms shows some benefits.