New dinosaur fossil from 90 mn years ago found in Argentina

Researchers in Argentina have excavated the fossil of a new carnivorous dinosaur that lived around 90 million years ago, a media report said on Thursday.

The 26-feet (8 metres) long dinosaur had two-fingered small forearms that were merely 2 feet (60 cm) long, scientists said in a news conference after the team published the discovery in the PLOS ONE journal, Xinhua news agency reported.

The dinosaur belonged to the theropods (beast footed) -- a family that also included Tyrannosaurs and Velociraptors, the scientists said.

The dinosaur was named Gualicho Shinyae, a combination of the name of an evil spirit Gualichu -- worshipped by the local Tehuelche community in the Patagonia region and Akiko Shinya, the scientist who first discovered the dinosaur in southern Rio Negro Province.

The dinosaur was unearthed in 2007, but difficulties postponed the team's analysis.

The fossil was currently being conserved at the Patagonian Museum of Natural Sciences in the city of General Roca and the Carlos Ameghino Provincial Museum in Cipolletti, both in Rio Negro Province.

--IANS

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