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Scientists find giant dinosaur Meraxes Gigas

July 7, 2022

The newly discovered carnivorous dinosaur had a massive head and tiny arms, similar to the famous T. rex. The small front limbs may have held an advantage for survival.

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An artistic rendering of Merazes gigas
This artistic representation of the predator is based off the well-preserved remains found in ArgentinaImage: CARLOS PAPOLIO/REUTERS

In an article published Thursday, paleontologists said they had discovered a new apex predator with a massive head and little arms, like those of the Tyrannosaurus rex.

The findings were published in the journal Current Biology and suggest that the small front limbs were not an accident of evolution but rather helped the creature survive in its era.

Meraxes gigas, named after a dragon in the Game of Thrones books, was excavated over four years of field expeditions in northern Patagonia, Argentina. The skull was first found in 2012.

Palaeontologist Pablo Gallina touches a tooth at the dinosaur's skull
A replica of the animal's head was displayed in Buenos AiresImage: LUIS ROBAYO/AFP

"We won the lottery and found it literally on the first morning," Peter Makovicky, from the University of Minnesota, told Agence France-Presse.

What did the team of paleontologists uncover?

The dinosaur's fossilized remains were well preserved, with the skeleton approximately 36 feet (11 meters) long. The skull alone was more than four feet long at 127 centimetres.

Paleontologists transport a dinosaur fossil in a plaster cast
Meraxes gigas was discovered in Las Campanas Canyon, southwest of Villa El ChoconImage: SEBASTIAN APESTEGUIA/University of Minnesota/AFP

Researchers believe Meraxes gigas weighed four metric tons. Its arms, however, were only about two feet long.

Researchers believe that the newly discovered dinosaur would have gone extinct 20 million years prior to the existence of Tyrannosaurus rex.

"It certainly would have looked very imposing and gargoylelike," Makovicky said.

Why the short arms?

Juan Canale, the project lead at Ernesto Bachmann Paleontological Museum in Neuquen, Argentina, and a co-author of Thursday's publication, said the tiny arms might have played a role in reproduction.

"They may have used the arms for reproductive behavior such as holding the female during mating or support themselves to stand back up after a break or a fall," Canale said.

Makovicky said the newly discovered species would have lived on earth between 90 to 100 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. At that time, the Patagonian region was damper, more forested and closer to the coast.

Meraxes gigas would have preyed on the sauropod dinosaurs, which had long tails and necks and small heads. Some sauropod remains were also discovered at the excavation site.

ar/dj (AFP, Reuters)