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Paleontologists in Brazil have found fragments of fossils of a new species of theropod dinosaurs that lived on Earth during the Cretaceous period.

The newly discovered dinosaur lived in what is now southeastern Brazil about 70 million years ago (the Late Cretaceous era).

Named Kurupi itaata, this species was a species of abelisaurid, a group of bipedal predators that thrived on the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana during the Cretaceous period.

His fossilized remains were found in the municipality of Monte Alto in the western state of Sao Paulo.

"Kurupi itaata represents the first four-legged dinosaur in the Marilia Formation (Bauru Group), a geological unit that is found in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Goias and Mato Grosso do Sul," paleontologists say.

"This formation consists mainly of paleosols formed in a semi-arid and arid environment, and the recent reassessment of its previously known members has reduced its lithological composition and geographical distribution. There are very few vertebrate fossils here without named species."

Paleontologists examined three tail vertebrae and a partial pelvic girdle of Kurupi itaata. They found that the ancient predator was about 5 meters long and had a stiff tail.

He was well adapted for running, as evidenced by his muscle attachment and bone anatomy.

"This new taxon shares with other South American abelisaurids fused sciatic and caudal vertebrae with long and laterodorsally oriented transverse processes with fan-shaped distal ends," the scientists say.

"This contributes to the study of the Maastrichtian continental fauna of Brazil and increases the diversity of medium-sized abelisaurids in western Gondwana."

The discovery of Kurupi itaata is reported in an article in the South American Journal of Earth Sciences.

ab-news.ru