Chakisaurus nekul

About Chakisaurus nekul

• Its name derived from Chaki, which is a word from the Aonikenk language, of the indigenous Tehuelche people, which means “old guanaco”, a reference to a medium-sized herbivore mammal found in the region. Nekul means “fast” or “agile” in the Mapudungún language, of the local Mapuche people.
• It was a fast runner and lived about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous period in present day Patagonia.
• It was found in the Pueblo Blanco Natural Reserve, in the southern province of Río Negro, an area rich in fossils where many mammals, turtles, and fish have been found along with other species of dinosaur.
• Studies of Chakisaurus yielded new findings indicating that it was a fast runner and had its tail curved unusually downward.
• This new species was a bipedal herbivore that among its most important characteristics had a tail that, unlike other dinosaurs, which was horizontal, had a downward curvature.

Q1: What is the Cretaceous Period?

The Cretaceous Period, in geologic time, is the last of the three periods of the Mesozoic Era. The Cretaceous began 145.0 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. It followed the Jurassic Period and was succeeded by the Paleogene Period.

Source: Argentine scientists find speedy 90-million-year-old herbivore dinosaur

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