By Fabian Cambero
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Scientists in Chile’s driest Atacama Desert, the world’s driest, have discovered the remains of a previously unknown dinosaur species that lived millions of years ago among lush greenery in what is now a month ago. rock and sand.
A team led by Chilean geologist Carlos Arévalo unearthed the remains of Arackar licanantay, which means “Atacama bones” in the Kunza language, 75 kilometers south of the desert town of Copiapó. The so-called titanosaur had a small head, long neck and tail, as well as an unusually flat back compared to others like it.
Recent paleontological studies suggest that Arackar lived among flowering plants, ferns and palm trees during the Cretaceous period 66-80 million years ago. Instead, parts of Atacama have been without rain for a hundred years and support the small life of plants or animals.
The discovery of a titanosaur in the western Andes Mountains of South America is rare, although several species have been found in Argentina and Brazil, further east.
The remains of the dinosaurs were first discovered in the 1990s and were described by scientists in the journal Cretaceous Research.
Arackar also appears as smaller in size compared to other titanosaurs. The Argentinosaurus, discovered in the eastern Andes of neighboring Argentina, was more than four times longer, scientists say.
The remains of the dinosaurs will eventually be exhibited in the Museum of Natural History in Chile, although this is currently closed due to coronavirus restrictions.
(Reporting by Fabian Cambero, written by Dave Sherwood, edited by Ed Osmond)