At the end of the Triassic around 199 million old age ago , the supercontinentPangeawas just about to go against apart and nearly a twenty-five percent of all dinosaurs living at the meter were wiped out in the planet’sfourth mass experimental extinction event . The fossil record curtly after the Triassic - Jurassic event is somewhat incomplete , especially in persona of advanced - day South America . Until now , only one dinosaur has ever been found in the northerly part of the contient . A new substance - eating dinosaur unearthed in the Venezuelan Andes could help fill in the gap . It ’s dubbedTachiraptor admirabilis , and it’sdescribedinRoyal Society Open Sciencethis week .
Isolated lower wooden leg and pelvis os from two individuals were excavate from the early Jurassic sediment of the La Quinta Formation in the northernmost telephone extension of the Andes , at the western border of Venezuela . geological dating of the zircons in the rocks lay the fogey at 200.7 million year old .
From just these two bone – specifically the ischium and tibia ( visualize ) – a team led byMax Langer from the University of São Paulowas able-bodied to regulate that it was bipedal , about two meters foresightful , and carnivorous . Tachiraptorbelong to the theropod ( “ beast - footed ” ) branch of dinosaurs , which led up to mod birds and let in T. king , velociraptor , a weepygmy tyrannosaurwho stalk the arctic , and the shark - eating spinosaurus , thefirst ever swimming dinosaur . alone feature of speech of its tibial articulations were different enough from bed bird-footed dinosaur to justify a new species .
Tachiraptoris name after Táchira , the Venezuelan state where the fossil was found , and “ raptor ” ( Latin for “ stealer ” ) , alluding to its predatory habit . The metal money name references Simon Bolivar ’s “ Admirable Campaign , ” where the town La Grita played a strategic role .
in the beginning this summertime , another team of investigator announced the discovery of the first dinosaur recover in northern South America , also from the La Quinta Formation . These fossil were stumbled upon during a highway excavation . The 201 - million - year - oldLaquintasaura venezuelaelikely eat up plant life and louse , and it belong to the ornithischians , which go on to include Stegosaur stenops and triceratops later on . And even though it was mostly herbivorous , Laquintasauralooked middling much like a slightly smallerTachiraptor . “ All the small dinosaurs of that era expect about the same,”University of Birmingham ’s Richard Butler tells Science . Butler was part of the squad that describedLaquintasaura .
In all likelihood , TachiraptorhuntedLaquintasaura . Together , these early Jurassic , mass - defunctness survivor will help paleontologists better realise the worldwide wage hike of dino giants million of class later . That is , until theCretaceous experimental extinction eventsome 130 million age subsequently that dooms all remaining non - avian dinosaur .
look-alike : Maurílio Oliveira ( top ) , M.C. Langer et al . , Royal Society 2014 ( middle )
