02:30Archaeologists in Argentina claim to have discovered a new species of dinosaur thought to have roamed the earth roughly 90 million years ago.
Footage captured on Friday shows lead palaeontologist Lucas Lerzo and his team from the Azara Foundation and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) meticulously studying the bones at the Ernesto Bachmann Museum in Villa El Chocon, Neuquen province.
The fossils were found in the Barda Atravesada de Las Campanas, 20 kilometres from Villa El Chocon, in 2009 by the technician Rogelio 'Mupi' Zapata.
Researchers discovered the remains of a skull, hip bones and fragments of a vertebra, which they believe belongs to a new species from the Rebaquisaurid family. These large, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs lived in what is now South America during the Cretaceous period.
"The Rebbachisaurids, in general, were characterised by feeding on low vegetation; at ground level, they were animals that had teeth that they constantly replaced and probably ate ferns or bushes," Lerzo explained.
Although large in stature, the new species known as 'Campananeyen fragilissimus' would have been lighter than most dinosaurs of a similar size due to the air cavities found in its vertebrae.
'Campananeyen fragilissimus' is named after the site where it was discovered and 'neyen', which means 'air' in the Mapudungun (Mapuche) language. 'Fragilissimus' means 'most fragile' in Latin and refers to the dinosaur's very thin ilium bone, which forms part of the hip.
Dino-mite! Palaeontologists discover new species with spinal air sacs in Argentina
Archaeologists in Argentina claim to have discovered a new species of dinosaur thought to have roamed the earth roughly 90 million years ago.
Footage captured on Friday shows lead palaeontologist Lucas Lerzo and his team from the Azara Foundation and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) meticulously studying the bones at the Ernesto Bachmann Museum in Villa El Chocon, Neuquen province.
The fossils were found in the Barda Atravesada de Las Campanas, 20 kilometres from Villa El Chocon, in 2009 by the technician Rogelio 'Mupi' Zapata.
Researchers discovered the remains of a skull, hip bones and fragments of a vertebra, which they believe belongs to a new species from the Rebaquisaurid family. These large, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs lived in what is now South America during the Cretaceous period.
"The Rebbachisaurids, in general, were characterised by feeding on low vegetation; at ground level, they were animals that had teeth that they constantly replaced and probably ate ferns or bushes," Lerzo explained.
Although large in stature, the new species known as 'Campananeyen fragilissimus' would have been lighter than most dinosaurs of a similar size due to the air cavities found in its vertebrae.
'Campananeyen fragilissimus' is named after the site where it was discovered and 'neyen', which means 'air' in the Mapudungun (Mapuche) language. 'Fragilissimus' means 'most fragile' in Latin and refers to the dinosaur's very thin ilium bone, which forms part of the hip.
Archaeologists in Argentina claim to have discovered a new species of dinosaur thought to have roamed the earth roughly 90 million years ago.
Footage captured on Friday shows lead palaeontologist Lucas Lerzo and his team from the Azara Foundation and National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) meticulously studying the bones at the Ernesto Bachmann Museum in Villa El Chocon, Neuquen province.
The fossils were found in the Barda Atravesada de Las Campanas, 20 kilometres from Villa El Chocon, in 2009 by the technician Rogelio 'Mupi' Zapata.
Researchers discovered the remains of a skull, hip bones and fragments of a vertebra, which they believe belongs to a new species from the Rebaquisaurid family. These large, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs lived in what is now South America during the Cretaceous period.
"The Rebbachisaurids, in general, were characterised by feeding on low vegetation; at ground level, they were animals that had teeth that they constantly replaced and probably ate ferns or bushes," Lerzo explained.
Although large in stature, the new species known as 'Campananeyen fragilissimus' would have been lighter than most dinosaurs of a similar size due to the air cavities found in its vertebrae.
'Campananeyen fragilissimus' is named after the site where it was discovered and 'neyen', which means 'air' in the Mapudungun (Mapuche) language. 'Fragilissimus' means 'most fragile' in Latin and refers to the dinosaur's very thin ilium bone, which forms part of the hip.