Chakisaurus nekul

April 28, 2024

Palaeontologists from Argentina announced the discovery of a new medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur and named it as Chakisaurus nekul.

About Chakisaurus nekul:

  • Its name derived from Chaki, which is a word from the Aonikenk language, of the indigenous Tehuelche people, which means "old guanaco", a reference to a medium-sized herbivore mammal found in the region. Nekul means "fast" or "agile" in the Mapudungún language, of the local Mapuche people.
  • It was a fast runner and lived about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period in present day Patagonia.
  • It was found in the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro, an area rich in fossils where many mammals, turtles and fish have been found along with other species of dinosaur.
  • This new species was a bipedal herbivore that among its most important characteristics had a tail that, unlike other dinosaurs, which was horizontal, had a downward curvature.