BUENOS AIRES, July 13, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Argentine paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia (F-R) poses with a replica of the theropod dinosaur at the auditorium of Argentina's Ministry of Science and Technology, in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina, on July 13, 2016. Researchers here said Wednesday they have unearthed fossils of a new carnivorous dinosaur that lived in Argentina around 90 million years ago.(Xinhua/Martin Zabala)
BUENOS AIRES, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Researchers here said Wednesday they have unearthed fossils of a new carnivorous dinosaur that lived in Argentina around 90 million years ago.
The 26-foot (8 meters) -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.
The dinosaur belonged to the theropods, a family that also included tyrannosaurs and velociraptors, they said.
It was named Gualicho shinyae, a combination of the name of an evil spirit called Gualichu worshipped by the local Tehuelche community in the Patagonia region, and Akiko Shinya, the scientist who first discovered it in southern Rio Negro Province.
The dinosaur was unearthed in 2007, but difficulties postponed the team's analysis.
The fossils are 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.
