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A newly identify dinosaur had a squished , pug - like expression and teeny arms , but that did n’t blockade it from gobbling up prey during the former Cretaceous , a new sketch has determine .
The 16 - foot - long ( 5 m ) predator , namedKoleken inakayal , was one of the top predators in what is now Argentina .
Artist impression of the newly discovered dinosaur Koleken inakayali.
investigator unearthedK. inakayalifossils in the La Colonia Formation of central Patagonia , according to a subject field published May 21 in the journalCladistics . K. inakayalibelonged to the Abelisauridae family , which ruled the great southern landmass of Gondwana during theCretaceous period(145 million to 66 million years ago ) .
" These bozo were the apex predator in that part of the world , " subject co - authorMichael Pittman , a palaeontologist at The Chinese University of Hong Kong , told Live Science . " They were occupying the same part thatT. rexwould have been doing in part of ancient North America . "
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Koleken inakayali’s skull.
Abelisaurids likeK. inakayalihad a similar — albeit modest — physical structure plan to aT. male monarch — with bulky hind limbs and stunted arms . However , the skull of the newfangled species was much flatter than those of its relative . " If it was a wiener , it would be a pug-dog , " Pittman say .
Pittman and his workfellow occur acrossK. inakayalifossils sticking out of the distant Patagonian desert in 2015 and excavated them over several twelvemonth . The team recovered a partial skeleton of a single individual , which included skull bones , shadower bones and near - complete legs , according to astatementreleased by the National Geographic Society , which helped fund the research .
K. inakayalilived alongside another abelisaurid , Carnotaurus sastrei , which was discovered in the same geological organization in 1985 and is far-famed for its horn .
K. inakayalilacked horns , one of several feature research worker used to recognize its skeleton fromC. sastreiand other abelisaurids . The newfound species was also smaller thanC. sastrei , which had a body length of 26 feet ( 8 m ) , according to theNatural History Museumin London .
The team determined thatK. inakayalibelonged in its own group within the Abelisauridae family tree . Its genus name , " Koleken , " comes from a word in the Teushen nomenclature spoken by the native population of central Patagonia . The original Teushen Book , " Kóleken , " means " come from clay and water , " which the research worker chose because the fossils were in claystone - dominated rocks from an estuarine surroundings , according to the study .
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The species name , " inakayali , " is named after Inakayal , a leader of the Tehuelche native peoplewho campaign against the Argentinian military in the 19th 100 . " He [ Inakayal ] is eff for his ohmic resistance against Argentina ’s Conquest of the Desert military safari , which resulted in the decimation and shift of native residential district from Patagonia , " the author wrote in the study .
After identifyingK. inakayali , the team look at abelisaurid evolution , and the rate at which their organic structure exchange over time compare to other dinosaur . The researcher find that abelisaurids had rapid skull evolution , which belike contributed to their winner .
" One of the key fixings for their succeeder was they very rapidly commute their skull configuration , and that opened up young opportunity for them , " Pittman say .
