Paleontologists in Argentina have announced the discovery of a new medium-sized herbivorous dinosaur that was a fast runner and lived around 90 million years ago in present-day Patagonia.

The animal, named Chakisaurus nekul, was found in the Pueblo Blanco Nature Reserve in the southern province of Rio Negro, 25 kilometres south of El Chocon, an area extremely rich in fossils where mammals, turtles, fish and other dinosaur species have been found.

The largest Chakisaurus is estimated to have been 2.5 to 3 metres long and 70 centimetres tall.

Studies of Chakisaurus yielded novel data indicating that it was a fast runner and carried its tail curved downwards.

Its name derives from Chaki, which is a word from the Aonikenk language of the original Tehuelche people, meaning ‘old guanaco’, since, apart from the differences, both animals were medium-sized herbivores, good runners and could be prey for the top predator in their area.

Nekul means ‘swift’ or ‘agile’ in the Mapudungun language of the Mapuche indigenous people.

The expedition that made this find was made in 2018. The paleontologists made the dinosaur known through the publication of an article in the prestigious journal Cretaceous Research. -Report from Reuters

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