Experts from Southern Chile recently unearthed a unique fossil from a prehistoric era. The discovered animal heavily resembles the physical structure of both the stegosaurus and ankylosaurus. According to the analysis from the fossil, the species that was presented dates back sometime between 75 and 72 million years ago. The animal was buried and was excavated in a region of Chilean Patagonia. Like the mentioned dinosaurs, this new animal has a massive tail with a chunk on its end. The body structure of the species was naturally preserved in good condition, making the ancient features of the animal noticeable without much effort.
Stegouros elengassen: New Armored Dinosaur
Although the dinosaur was compared to the giant stegosaurus and ankylosaurus, it is not as huge as it seems. Like the heavyweight herbivores, it used four limbs to crawl throughout its territories. The species scaled less than two feet in height and had a body length of under seven feet from head to tail. If set side by side with the generic dinosaurs, the species do not have that much mass against the gigantic animals we are familiar with.
However, the drawbacks of the animal were complemented by its tough armor shed and heavy tail that are effective against predators and other meat-eating prehistoric monsters. Although the rear weapon of the dinosaur is present, it does not look like the standard ball-like end from the herbivores. Instead, it had a shape similar to a weaponized cricket bat.
According to the study held on the fossil, the remains were from the Stegouros elengassen. Like its cousins, the dinosaur was named Steguoros due to its tail's anatomy. The name 'elengassen' was chosen for the species due to a mythological creature from the Patagonian Aónik'enk people known for their sturdy armor. The tail of the animal also gets a name called macuahuitl, an ancient obsidian-bladed relic that serves as a weapon for the Aztecs.
Closing the Gap in Gondwana's Evolutionary Puzzle
The discovery of the Stegouros elengassen not only presents such unique features but also serves as a contribution to an evolutionary puzzle that was still unsolved. University of Maryland paleontology expert Tom Holtz, who was not involved in the study, said in a National Geographic report that a wide gap is yet to be filled in the lineage of armored beasts. Only a few dinosaurs with the same structure were found limited in hotspots such as the supercontinent Gondwana. The exclusive habitat where the armored dinosaurs were discovered was already split before humans even existed, scattering to the modern-day continents, including Africa, South America, the Arabian Peninsula, Australia, and Antarctica.
Stegouros elengassen's existence was among the few armored beasts that were discovered in previous examinations. Aside from the new dinosaur, there were just two species that were confirmed by scientists throughout the history of paleontological studies. The initial species were partially discovered due to the limited resources and clues pointing to its complete evolutionary structures. Compared to its cousins, the fossil of Stegouros elengassen was considered 80 percent complete, allowing experts to have comprehensive data from the dinosaur and its relatives. The study was published in the journal Nature, titled "Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile."
RELATED ARTICLE: Mammoth Tusks Dating Back to 100,000 Years Ago Unearthed Off the Coast of California
Check out more news and information on Paleontology in Science Times.
