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The
Cretaceous Period dinosaur, named Jakapil kaniukura, would have
been well-protected with rows of bony disk-shaped armor along
its neck and back and down to its tail, they said. It measured
about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and weighed only 9 to 15 pounds
(4-7 kg), similar to an average house cat.
Its fossilized remains were dug up over the past decade near a
dam in Patagonia in Rio Negro province's La Buitrera
paleontological zone. The scientists described Jakapil in a
study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The scientists said Jakapil marks a first-of-its-kind discovery
of an armored dinosaur from the Cretaceous in South America. It
is part of the thyreophoran dinosaur group that includes the
likes of Stegosaurus, known for its bony back plates and spiky
tail, and tank-like Ankylosaurus, covered in armor and wielding
a club-like tail.
Lead paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia and his colleagues
found a partial skeleton of Jakapil along with 15 tooth
fragments featuring a leaf-like shape, similar to iguana teeth.
Jakapil resembles a primitive form of thyreophoran that lived
much earlier, making it a surprise that it dated from the
Cretaceous. Apesteguia said never before has such a thyreophoran
been dug up anywhere in the southern hemisphere.
(Reporting by Miguel Lo Bianco; Writing by David Alire Garcia;
Editing by Will Dunham)
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