Scientists have found a new dinosaur with tiny arms
Meet Meraxes gigas, the youngest member of the carcharodontosaurid theropod radiation! Based on a well-preserved skeleton, this giant sarcophagus was over 35 feet long and weighed approximately 9000 pounds. Posted today on @CurrentBiology! Artwork (c) J. Gonzalez pic.twitter.com/zoqHGBLTQu — Peter Makovicky (@PeteMakovicky) July 7, 2022 Paleontologists began digging in the area in 2012 after Juan Ignacio Canale and his colleague found a sauropod fragment in the field. The dig took about three months and required a bit of jackhammering, but later they started pulling up new fossils from the area. As they processed it all, Canale and his colleagues revealed the new dinosaur with the tiny arms. But the study of this new species of dinosaur is just beginning, Canale notes. There is still a lot for the team to work on. They must create detailed descriptions of the creature. Canale says they also need to complete a CT scan of the skull to examine its internal spaces. Furthermore, the dinosaur with its tiny arms raises even more questions. Although it is similar to T-rex and other species with tiny arms, it is not clear exactly what the arms would have been used for. In the case of Meraxes gigas, the species actually has large bones in its hands. This, paleontologists say, points to arms that also require large muscles.
A completely different world
Earth as it was 200 million years ago. Image source: dinosaurpictures.org The question of how the tiny-armed dinosaurs used these weapons has plagued scientists for decades. Even as we create new theories or ideas about what they would have been used for, it is impossible to say for sure. To really prove this, we’ll have to go back in time and experience for ourselves the world they lived in. As I noted above, the giant Meraxes would have died out by the early Late Cretaceous. At the time, the site found nearby, El Chocon, Argentina, would have been warm and lush. In fact, it would have many similarities with Africa. South America would also be relatively close, with the Atlantic Ocean just beginning to form. Perhaps the environment could have played a role in how the giant Meraxes and other types of dinosaurs with tiny arms evolved. Perhaps evolution required larger heads to account for the more brute strength and cutting power within the beasts’ jaws. What we do know is that those tiny arms can seem useless. But, it was anything but that. All we have to do now is figure out what purpose they served so we can better understand these massive creatures that once ruled the Earth. A paper on the new species was published in Current Biology this month. Previous discoveries by paleontologists have also revealed complete dinosaur embryos.
