Giant raptor discovered in Argentina

This raptor cousin of the Velociraptors was gigantic

If the Velociraptor were already giving cold sweats to the spectators of the saga Jurassic Parkthe films are far from showing which were the most impressive raptors » having walked the earth. A study reports the discovery of a new species in Argentina, whose size rivaled that of allosaurs.

You will also be interested


[EN VIDÉO] Interview: where to find dinosaur fossils?
Disappeared 65 million years ago, the dinosaurs nevertheless left some traces in fossil form. But what are the most favorable geological conditions for their conservation and where can they be found? Futura-Sciences asked the question to Éric Buffetaut, paleontologist, during this interview.

Theropods are one of the groups of dinosaurs the best known to the general public because they include the largest species of carnivores that have ever walked the Earth, including the emblematic tyrannosaurus rex, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus as well as species of the genus Allosaurus. Several theropods were made famous thanks to the films of the saga Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. In the next film of this saga titled Jurassic World: The World Afterit’s the turn of Giganotosaurusa theropod belonging to the group of carcharodontosaurids, to cause panic among humans.

Giganotosaurus was a giant carcharodontosaurid whose disappearance undoubtedly favored the diversification of other groups of predators such as the megaraptora.  © Daniel Eskridge, Adobe Stock

This giant predator lived in South America and its disappearance along with that of other carcharodontosaurids may have allowed other groups of theropods to flourish. Among these groups is that of the megaraptora, within which a new species giantess of raptor » has just been described.

” The shadow of death “

A research team publishes in the newspaper Scientific Reports information about this new species named Maip macrothorax. This species belongs to the group of megaraptora, which is part of that of allosauroids. The specimen was discovered in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, and dates from the Maastrichtian (-72.1 to -66 million years). The term macrothorax reminds that this raptor » had a big chest cavity which was just over 1.20 meters wide. The paleontologists found only rare fossils of this specimen such as vertebrae, ribs and part of the pectoral girdle but they were able to estimate that the individual was around nine and a half meters long and almost three meters high.

Only a few remains of M. macrothorax were found but were enough to estimate that the specimen must have been about nine meters long.  © Agustin OzanOnly a few remains of M. macrothorax were found but were enough to estimate that the specimen must have been about nine meters long.  © Agustin Ozan

The authors of the study were also interested in the phylogeny Megaraptors. They determined that M. macrothorax was phylogenetically close to other South American megaraptora which are more recent than those from Australia and Asia. The latter were also smaller and of less robust constitution than the subgroup of which the impressive M. macrothorax. The latter must therefore have been among the greatest predators of its time in South America. The genus name Maip is also the name of an evil entity from the mythology of the Tehuelches (Indians of Patagonia) which means the shadow of death ».

Interested in what you just read?

fs11