Uruguay unveils giant dinosaur species dating back 80 million years

Uruguayan scientists have identified a new species of dinosaur that lived more than 80 million years ago, based on fossils originally discovered by fishermen more than three decades ago, the University of the Republic said.

“Researchers from the Faculty of Sciences presented a discovery of enormous importance for national palaeontology: a new species of giant dinosaur that lived in the north of our territory during the age of dinosaurs and has been named Mesetasaurus protector,” the university said in a statement.

The discovery is based on two tail vertebrae found by two fishermen in the 1980s. One fossil was later donated to a school, while the other remained in private possession. The university said the specimens only recently became available for scientific study.

Researchers determined the fossils belonged to a previously unknown species due to a distinctive anatomical feature — a depression in the vertebrae located unusually close to the joint.

Scientists estimate that Mesetasaurus protector measured approximately 9 to 10 meters in length.

The species was named in honour of José Artigas, a leading figure in Latin American independence movements and a founding figure of Uruguay, who held the title “Protector of Free Peoples.”

According to the university, Mesetasaurus protector is only the second dinosaur species to be identified in Uruguay, following Udelartitan celeste.

By Tamilla Hasanova