Today, lions, leopards, etc. are probably the main carnivores in the African country of Lesotho. However, they are dwarfed by the largest land predators that have ever appeared on this land before. Paleontologists recently found the first evidence of a previously unknown large carnivorous dinosaur in Lesotho.
According to the wave marks and dry shrinkage found by the research team
The evidence is a series of fossil footprints left in the rock, dating back to the Early Jurassic period 200 million years ago. Judging by the wave marks and dry shrinkage cracks found by the research team, the area may have been riverbanks at that time.
According to the wave marks and dry shrinkage cracks found by the research team
Each footprint is 57 cm (22 inches) long and 50 cm (20 inches) wide, and the tri-toed footprint is the largest footprint of its kind ever found in Africa. The researchers estimated that the new breed of dinosaur, Kayentapus ambrokholohali, was about 9 meters (30 feet) long and averaged 3 meters (10 feet) tall at the hips.
Judging from the wave marks and dry shrinkage cracks found by the research team
Fabien Knoll, co-author of the study, said: "The latest findings are very exciting and provide new clues to the study of carnivorous species in the South African region. That's because this is the first evidence of large local carnivores, which were previously thought to have been ruled by herbivorous, omnivorous, or smaller carnivorous dinosaurs. It really stands at the top of the food chain. ”
But the newly discovered species is more than just "big fish in small ponds": its sheer size puts it at the forefront of the world. Kayentapus ambrokholohali was only slightly smaller than the Tyrannosaurus rex, which was about 12 meters long.
Lara Sciscio, another author of the study, said: "This discovery marks the first large carnivorous dinosaur found in Gondwana during the Early Jurassic period – a prehistoric continent that later split into Africa and elsewhere. This makes it an important discovery. Globally, these large footprint fossils are very rare, having previously only been found in Poland. ”
The results of the study have been published in the journal PLOS ONE.