South America’s First Armored Bipedal Dinosaur Discovered

A new armored dinosaur explored at the La Buitreira Paleontological Site in the state of Rio Negro (Argentina) since 2012 has been discovered and is considered a member of an ancient basal tyrophore lineage that survived in South America into the Late Cretaceous. Despite with the characteristic bone armor of giant stegosaurs and ankylosaursThe new species is much smaller than its northern cousins.

Weighing four to seven kilograms and five feet long, Jakapil kaniukura, a small bipedal herbivorous dinosaur, with short sleeves and several rows of dermal bones (outside the body). This solid armor may have protected the animal’s neck, back, and tail and protected it from the voracious predators of time.

Paleontologist and study co-author Sebastián Apesteguía said in a press release, “The most striking feature of this animal is the crest on the underside of the jaw, which is unknown to all other thyrophores and gives the species its specificity. name (‘kaniukura’ means stone hill in Mapudungún, Mapuche language)”.

How did Jakapil kaniukura live?

• Jakapil kaniukura •
here is the first thyreophoran from Argentine Patagonia
Such an honorary work with Sebastian Apesteguia, Facundo Riguetti and Mauricio Álvarez to achieve this restructuring.#blender #blendercommunity #paleoart #paleontology #Jakapil #Argentina pic.twitter.com/Hf4ZphlWsH

— PaleoGDY (@PaleoGDY) 11 August 2022

According to research, the low weight and upright body made the Jakapil an extremely agile animal. You are protected from predators with your armorThe dinosaur was herbivorous and probably used its short but powerful beak to chew through the region’s hardy woody vegetation. The CGI animation above shows how the little tyrophore explored the arid landscape of Patagonia during the Cretaceous.

Apesteguía led the excavations in the Rio Negro, and in 2012 became the first to find Jakapil bones, actually just two small teeth. Two years later, the paleontologist, along with other scientists, discovered a skeleton and a block with atypical teeth – similar to iguana teeth. – shaped chin.

Facundo Riguetti, one of the participants of the team, which is doing a thesis on armored dinosaurs, saw the fossil as a material of interest and continued to collect bones. in 2020 finished rebuilding the species structureand was the first author of the current study published in the journal this month. Scientific Reports.