New dinosaur species named after evil spirit

An artist depicting a new dinosaur species called Maip macrothorax, which was unearthed in Argentina C Agustin Ozain An international research team has identified a new dinosaur species in Argentina, an apex predator so ferocious that it was named after an evil spirit from a local myth.

Maip macrothorax, the largest relative of Megaraptora found so far, was discovered through bones from its spinal column and ribs unearthed from a stratum formed 70 million years ago in what is now Santa Cruz province in southern Argentina in March 2020.

According to Makoto Manabe, deputy director of the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, Megaraptora came to hold one of the top spots among carnivores in South America by the end of the Cretaceous Period, due to the discovery of Maip macrothorax.

The dinosaur study involved manabe and Takanobu Tsuihiji, a chief researcher at the museum.

Maip macrothorax, a theropod, was estimated to be 9 meters long and weighed 5 tons. Like other Megaraptora, the new species probably had many teeth in its elongated head as well as sharp claws on its forearms.

According to the team, Maip refers to an evil spirit in Patagonian lore that freezes people to death with chilly winds. Macrothorax was used in the name to describe the beast's large chest cavity, estimated at 1.2 meters wide.

Manabe, Tsuihiji and Dr. Fernando Novas at the Argentine Natural Science Museum concluded that the remains were from a previously unknown species based on bones shapes and density levels.

Megaraptora roamed the southern hemisphere in the late Cretaceous Period. The carnivore is believed to have resembled the Tyrannosaurus that ruled the northern hemisphere.