New Meat-Eating Predator Discovered Named The 'One Who Causes Fear'

A fearsome new meat-eating predator has been discovered and named the 'one who causes fear' or scientifically known as Llukalkan aliocranianus.

This dinosaur species looked like a tyrannosaur and was one of the ten known species of abelisaurids that once lived in the southern continents around 80 million years ago.

The peer-reviewed research, entitled "A New Furileusaurian Abelisaurid from La Invernada (Upper Cretaceous, Santonian, Bajo De La Carpa Formation), Northern Patagonia, Argentina," was published on March 30 in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Meet the Fearsome Meat-Eating Predator

According to Phys.org, the fearsome Llukalkan was "likely among the top predators" in Argentina (previously Patagonia) during the Late Cretaceous because of its size that could reach up to five meters long, its extremely powerful bite, shape teeth, huge claws, and their keen sense of smell.

Moreover, experts believe that this dinosaur had bulges and prominences like modern reptiles like the iguanas and Gilas monster because of its strange short skull with rough bones.

This meat-eating predator's Llukalkan name was from the native Mapuche, which means 'one who causes fear.' While the Latin name aliocranianus means 'different skull.'

A few million years before dinosaurs went extinct, Llukalkan aliocranianus lived in the same small area and period of time as the furileusaurian abelisaurid (stiff-backed lizard), another species of Viavenator exxoni. Fossils of both species were found just 700 meters apart in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation near La Invernada in Argentina, a famous fossil site.

"This is a particularly important discovery because it suggests that the diversity and abundance of abelisaurids were remarkable, not only across Patagonia but also in more local areas during the dinosaurs' twilight period," says lead author Dr. Federico Gianechini, a paleontologist at the National University of San Luis, Argentina.

Similar to A Modern-Day Crocodile

Researchers said that the fossilized ruins Lucarcan contain a well-preserved, uncrushed neurocranium. They added that it is similar to Viavenator in many respects, but it most probably better and similar to a modern-day crocodile, according to co-author Dr. Ariel Mendez.

"This finding implies a different hearing adaptation from other abelisaurids, and likely a keener sense of hearing," says Dr. Mendez.

Jioforme reported that the fossil evidence of the adaptations of Llukalkan suggests that abelisaurids were flourishing even before the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs happened.

Mendez added that these dinosaurs were in the path of trying out new evolutionary pathways and rapidly changing just before they become extinct.

Gianechini said that their study suggests there might be more abelisaurid out there that was not yet discovered, and so finding them would hopefully lead to more information about them. "So we will be looking for other new species and a better understanding of the relationship among furilesaurs," he said.

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