Remains of “Gonkoken nanoi,” a species of herbivorous dinosaur previously unknown in the southern hemisphere, have been discovered in Chilean Patagonia, the epicenter of important paleontological discoveries in recent years, researchers said on Friday.
With a length of up to four meters, a weight of one ton and a duck bill, this species lived in the extreme south of Chile 72 million years ago.
“These were slender-looking dinosaurs that could easily adopt a two- and four-legged posture to reach vegetation at height and at ground level,” describes Alexander Vargas, director of the University of Chile’s paleontological network and one of the authors of the study, published by the journal Science Advances on Friday and presented in Santiago.
The discovery of these remains in 2013 shows that Chilean Patagonia served as a refuge for very ancient species of hadrosaurs, those duck-billed dinosaurs that were distributed across North America, Asia, and Europe during the Cretaceous Period.
Their presence in these remote southern lands has surprised scientists who, according to Mr Vargas, “need to understand how their ancestors got there”.
The “Gonkoken nanoi” is the fifth dinosaur species discovered in Chile after “Chilesaurus diegosuarezi”, “Atacamatitan chilensis”, “Arackar licanantay” and “Stegouros elengassen” found in the same region.
The name Gonkoken comes from the Tehuelche language, the first inhabitants of the region until the end of the 19th century, and means “resembling a wild duck or a swan”.