A desert-based carnivorous dinosaur¹ that used claws to capture small prey² 90 million years ago has been unearthed³ in southern Brazil, scientists said Wednesday.

 

巴西南部出土一种9000万年前在沙漠地区生活的食肉恐龙化石，这种恐龙利用前爪捕食小猎物。

 

Just over a meter and a half in length (five feet), the fossil remains⁴ of the Vespersaurus paranaensis were found in Cruzeiro do Oeste municipality of Parana state, a team of paleontologists from Brazil and Argentina said in a statement.

 

The Vespersaurus was a theropod, a group of two-footed, meat-eating dinosaurs⁵ that included the better known tyrannosaurus and velociraptor.

 

Footprints now believed to belong to this new species of dinosaur were discovered in Cruzeiro do Oeste in the 1970s.

 

"It's incredible that, nearly 50 years later, it seems that we have discovered what type of dinosaur would have produced those enigmatic footprints," said Paulo Manzig of the Paleontology Museum of Cruzeiro do Oeste. 

 

The northeastern region of Parana was once a desert and the dinosaur's remains suggest that the Vespersaurus was well adapted to that type of climate.

 

Other dinosaur species have been found there and, according to the scientists, the latest discovery must "catapult" paleontological investigations⁶ in the region.

 

"It is a rich but little explored area that would surely bring great news to the world of paleontology," said Neurides Martins of the Paleontology Museum of Cruzeiro do Oeste.

点击收听单词发音