Argentina was home to 8-ton dinosaur

NEUQUEN, Argentina, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Some of the world's biggest dinosaurs once roamed what is now Argentina, scientists have determined.

A team of paleontologists from Argentina and Brazil this week announced the skeleton they discovered about 56 miles north of Neuquen on the shores of Barreales, an artificial lake, are from a previously unknown species they have named Futalognkosaurus dukei, Mercopress reported Tuesday. the 102-foot-long, eight-ton plant eater lived about 88 million years ago.

The scientists said the unique structure of its neck separated this dinosaur from other species.

“This is one of the biggest in the world and one of the most complete of these giants that exist,” said Jorge Calvo, director of the paleontological center of the National University of Comahue in Argentina, and lead author of a study on the dinosaur published in the peer-reviewed Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

The name Futalognkosaurus dukei comes from the Mapuche Indian, meaning the “giant chief of the Saurus,” and for Duke Energy Argentina, which helped finance the dig.