Armored dinosaurs have been of great interest to paleontologists, since the simple fact of thinking that an animal of such dimensions could use external armor to increase its power is already astonishing in itself. However, until now there was no evidence of the existence of bipedal armored dinosaurs in South America, which recently changed with the discovery of a new species called Jakapil kaniukura.
The discovery made by paleontologists from the Félix de Azara Natural History Foundation in Argentina is an unprecedented fact that may mean the existence of a complete lineage of armored dinosaurs previously unknown to science.
Researchers found a partial skeleton of a previously unknown dinosaur in the Kokorkom Desert. This is a geological formation from more than 100 million years ago that gave way to the northernmost region of Argentine Patagonia.
What was the armored dinosaur like?
After analyzing the characteristics of the fossil, paleontologists concluded that it is a new species of dinosaur never seen before, which they named Jakapil kaniukura. According to research reports, the small spiny dinosaur belonged to the group known as Thyreophora, to which other dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus also belong, which stand out for their outer armored armor.
However, the newly discovered species challenges what paleontology knows about thyreophorans, as all fossils belonging to this group have been found in the northern hemisphere in North America and Europe. Furthermore, most of them date back to the Jurassic period, which spans from about 201 million years ago to 163 million years ago. Instead, the Jakapil kaniukura was found in the southern hemisphere and is believed to have lived on Earth in the Cretaceous period between 97 and 94 million years ago.
The dinosaur probably weighed as much as a current domestic one, since it did not exceed 1.5 meters in height. Its main characteristic is that it had a row of protective spines from the tail that extended to the neck. The researchers also clarify that it was a herbivore whose teeth had a leaf shape very similar to that of the Stegosaurus, although it had a short beak capable of delivering strong bites, which is why they assume that it could have fed on hard vegetation. and woody.
Another of the main characteristics that they were able to decipher thanks to the skeleton is that the small armored dinosaur used to walk upright, on two legs.
• Jakapil kaniukura •
here is the first thyreophoran from Argentinian Patagonia
Such an honor work with Sebastian Apesteguia, Facundo Riguetti and Mauricio Álvarez to achieve this reconstruction.
— PaleoGDY (@PaleoGDY)
Paleontologists have described that the discovery of this new species of armored dinosaur “shows that the first thyreophorans had a much broader geographic distribution than previously thought.” And finally they pointed out that another surprise for them is to observe that a dinosaur of this type survived until the Cretaceous and did not become extinct in the Jurassic, like most battleships.
*Image credit: Gabriel Díaz and Mauricio Álvarez
References: Riguetti, FJ, Apesteguía, S. & Pereda-Suberbiola, X. A new Cretaceous thyreophoran from Patagonia supports a South American lineage of armored dinosaurs. Sci Rep 12, 11621 (2022). DOI