Carnivorous Dinosaur with Short Snout and Strong Bite Menaced Patagonia

An artist's impression of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Llukalkan aliocranianus is seen in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 30, 2021. (Handout via Reuters)
An artist's impression of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Llukalkan aliocranianus is seen in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 30, 2021. (Handout via Reuters)
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Carnivorous Dinosaur with Short Snout and Strong Bite Menaced Patagonia

An artist's impression of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Llukalkan aliocranianus is seen in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 30, 2021. (Handout via Reuters)
An artist's impression of the Cretaceous Period meat-eating dinosaur Llukalkan aliocranianus is seen in this handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 30, 2021. (Handout via Reuters)

Scientists in Argentina have unearthed the well-preserved skull of a meat-eating dinosaur that roamed northern Patagonia about 85 million years ago - a beast with a short snout, keen hearing and stout bite strength that made it a daunting predator.

The dinosaur, named Llukalkan aliocranianus, measured roughly 16 feet (5 meters) long and was a member of a carnivorous group called abelisaurids that prospered in South America and other parts of Earth’s Southern Hemisphere during the Cretaceous Period, researchers said on Tuesday.

Llukalkan, meaning “one who causes fear” in the local native Mapuche language, may have competed directly against a cousin that was equally impressive and slightly larger. Only about 700 yards (meters) away from where Llukalkan’s fossilized skull was found, scientists previously had dug up the remains of another meat-eating dinosaur called Viavenator exxoni.

Both were abelisaurids, a group of two-legged predators with short skulls, sharp and serrated teeth, extremely short arms with tiny fingers and heads sometimes featuring unusual ridges and small horns. Abelisaurids generally were medium-sized compared to huge carnivorous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, which lived in North America approximately 15 million years after Llukalkan, and Giganotosaurus, which lived in Patagonia about 15 million years before Llukalkan.

“Yes, it is very unusual to find two abelisaurids that lived in the same locality and at approximately the same time,” said paleontologist Federico Gianechini of Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and the National University of San Luis, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

“Llukalkan was a little smaller than Viavenator, although, if they lived together, they surely shared the same ecological niche and fed on the same prey, so they would have competed with each other and - why not - even eaten each other,” Gianechini added. “Today, predators of different species but from the same family co-exist in the same ecosystem, such as lions, leopards and cheetahs.”

Llukalkan’s skull measured about 20 inches (50 cm) long. A large percentage of the cranial bones were found, including a nicely preserved braincase.

“A peculiarity of this dinosaur is that it has cavities in the ear area that other abelisaurids did not have, which could have given this species different auditory capacities, possibly a greater hearing range,” Gianechini said.

“The good preservation allowed us to make studies of the internal part of the braincase through tomography and thus infer the shape of the brain,” Gianechini added.

Llukalkan had a powerful bite, based on the musculature of its jaws, and its teeth could tear flesh from its prey. Unlike some abelisaurids, its skull was not bumpy.

No bones from the rest of its body were found, though the researchers have a good idea of its body plan based on other abelisaurids. They estimate Llukalkan weighed between one and five tons.

Patagonia has produced important dinosaur finds in recent decades. Llukalkan’s discovery allows for a deeper understanding of northern Patagonia’s ecosystems during the Cretaceous, the final chapter of the dinosaur age. Llukalkan inhabited a semi-arid environment with a seasonal climate, hunting a variety of plant-eating dinosaurs.



Funny Old World: The Week's Offbeat News

Lapdog Lassie: the chihuahua that helped rescuers find its master in the Swiss Alps. HANDOUT / Air Zermatt/AFP
Lapdog Lassie: the chihuahua that helped rescuers find its master in the Swiss Alps. HANDOUT / Air Zermatt/AFP
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Funny Old World: The Week's Offbeat News

Lapdog Lassie: the chihuahua that helped rescuers find its master in the Swiss Alps. HANDOUT / Air Zermatt/AFP
Lapdog Lassie: the chihuahua that helped rescuers find its master in the Swiss Alps. HANDOUT / Air Zermatt/AFP

From a hero lapdog Lassie to why tennis stars can't stop pinching Wimbledon towels. Your weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world.

Chihuahua to the rescue

A chihuahua saved a hiker who fell eight meters (26 feet) into a glacier crevasse high in the Swiss Alps.

The lapdog's "extraordinary" heroics surely saved his master, the Air Zermatt rescue service said, refusing to leave the spot where the man disappeared into the crevasse, leading rescuers straight to him, AFP said.

While the man was able to call for help with a walkie-talkie, rescuers struggled to locate him.

"The glacier surface was wide and the hole was barely visible," they said.

But then they spotted the tiny shivering Chihuahua perched on a rock, refusing to budge.

"Thanks to the dog's behavior, the crew was able to abseil down to the casualty and save him."

Doggone luxury

In the past, stricken alpinists could count on a sup of warming brandy from a St. Bernard dog. But these days, the gentle giants are more likely to be getting a massage, a manicure or a spot of hydrotherapy at the new Barryland theme park over the mountains at Martigny, where Switzerland's national dog is a major tourist attraction.

Helicopters have now taken over their mountain rescue role, allowing the St. Bernards to enjoy their retirement as pampered pensioners or care dogs.

Leaping mad

This involves crossing canals by clambering up a 12-meter (40-foot) pole -- roughly the height of a four-storey building -- so you can land (or be catapulted) to the other side. The uniquely Dutch sport combines pole-vaulting, long jump and, when misjudged, some unplanned swimming in the soup.

Farmer and fierljeppen world record holder Jacob de Groot told AFP that the sport may not have caught on elsewhere because "in the rest of the world there are not so many canals and also maybe the people are not so crazy".

Centre Court steal

Polish tennis ace Iga Swiatek powered through the women's singles at Wimbledon, bagging as many of the tournament's trademark towels as she could carry.

"No one talks about it, but we love your towels," she admitted after dispatching Russian Polina Kudermetova on Monday.

"Every time I come back 10 members of my family want the towels. Sorry Wimbledon, I am not sure if I'm allowed."

But the 24-year-old makes sure to keep some for herself. "I have lots at home. If I play on the circuit for another 15 years, I will have to build another room to keep them in," she laughed.