New Dinosaur With Super Hearing Discovered in Argentina

A new dinosaur has been discovered in Argentina, and its hearing is more impressive than other species that have been found. Llukalkan aliocranianus is the name. The first part gets translated to "the one who causes fear" in Mapuche. Aliocranianus means unusual skull in Latin. Argentina's Bajo de la Carpa Formation plays host to those dinosaur remains. Researchers published their findings in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology this week. So, 80 million years ago, this apex predator stalked those lands. It had tiny arms and large legs down below. However, some deep recesses in its skull allowed the creature to hear better than some of its contemporaries, including the Tyrannosaurus Rex. So, there's a wild realm of possibility with this new creature. Federico Gianechini, a paleontologist at the National University of San Luis, Argentina, talked to CNN about the discovery.

"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 explained. "This, together with its keen sense of smell, would have given great capabilities as a predator to this species."

"This is a particularly important discovery because it suggests that the diversity and abundance of abelisaurids were remarkable, not only across Patagonia, but also in more local areas during the dinosaurs' twilight period", the statement continued in a press release.

Dr. Ariel Mendez also had some comments about the finding in a press release. "This finding implies a different hearing adaptation from other abelisaurids, and likely a keener sense of hearing," Mendez observed. "These dinosaurs were still trying out new evolutionary pathways and rapidly diversifying right before they died out completely."

"These dinosaurs were still trying out new evolutionary pathways and rapidly diversifying right before they died out completely," they concluded.

Did you know about this brand-new dino? Let us know down in the comments!