A team of Argentinian scientists claims to have unearthed a new enormous carnivorous dinosaur with a massive head but disproportionately small arms.
The authors report in the journal Current Biology that significant skeletal remains of a previously unknown species were unearthed in northern Patagonia.
Meraxes gigas was approximately 11 meters (36 feet) long, yet its arms were only 2 feet long.
The scientists believe the carnivores’ tiny limbs provided them with survival advantages.
“I am confident that those relatively little arms had some purpose. The skeleton reveals big muscle insertions and fully developed pectoral girdles, indicating that the arm’s muscles were robust “said the study’s principal author, Juan Canale.
“They may have employed the arms for reproductive behavior, like as holding the female during copulation, or to sustain herself after a break or fall,” he noted.
Peter Makovicky, his co-author, stated that the dinosaur’s arms were “nearly half the length of its cranium” and that the creature would not have been able to reach its mouth.
According to Mr. Makovicky, the species’ huge heads were the primary predatory instrument, assuming the functions of limbs in lesser species.
Meraxes gigas, named after a fictitious dragon from the Game of Thrones book series, belonged to the group of shark-toothed lizards known as carcharodontosaurids.
It is thought that the four-ton reptiles inhabited the Earth between 90 and 100 million years ago.
According to the experts, tyrannosaurids and abelisaurids also acquired tiny arms for the same reasons.
