Tuesday, August 29, 2006

New dino species found in Brazil.

South America seems to be the hot spot these days for dinosaur discoveries. At 39 feet and nine tons, Maxakalisaurus topai isn't particularly big as sauropods go, but this Reuters article points out, it's a significant discovery because it appears to provide an evolutionary link to a branch of the Titanosauridae found in more recent Cretaceous formations in Argentina.

Kids may love or hate it based on its name. I'm not sure how the Maxakali, the tribe from which the name is derived, pronounce the "X"; i.e., is it "Macks-a-kal-i" or "Mash-a-kal-i"?

I'm very impressed by the reconstruction of the head of the theropod Mapusaurus roseae, which you can find by scrolling down a bit in the linked article.

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