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.
 

The fossilized remains of Llukalkan aliocranianus include a superbly preserved and uncrushed braincase and were unearthed in the Bajo de la Carpa Formation in Argentina. Llukalkan means "the one who causes fear" in the language of the indigenous Mapuche, and aliocranianus is Latin for "unusual skull."
 

Part of a family of dinosaurs called abelisaurids, the creature would have broadly resembled a Tyrannosaurus rex in appearance, with tiny stubby arms. But an unusually short, deep skull, which often bore crests, bumps and horns, set it apart. At least 5 meters long -- around the size of an elephant -- Llukalkan aliocranianus would have roamed Patagonia and other areas of the prehistoric southern subcontinent of Gondwana, which included Africa, India, Antarctica, Australia and South America.
 

It means that Llukalkan likely heard differently, and probably better, than other abelisaurids -- more similar to the hearing of a modern-day crocodile.
 

"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. This, together with its keen sense of smell, would have given great capabilities as a predator to this species," lead author Federico Gianechini, a paleontologist at the National University of San Luis, Argentina, told CNN in an email.
 

The fossilized remains were discovered in 2015 by accident during a dig in a place known as La Invernada, near the city of Rincón de los Sauces, in Neuquén Province, Gianechini said. The main purpose of the dig was to unearth a sauropod dinosaur (large, lumbering plant-eaters) that they had found a year earlier, but they noticed bones poking out on the surface of the ground a few days before finishing their excavation.
 

The dinosaur's unique hearing mechanism suggests that abelisaurids were flourishing right before the dinosaurs' extinction 67 million years ago.
 

"These dinosaurs were still trying out new evolutionary pathways and rapidly diversifying right before they died out completely," said Ariel Mendez, a study co-author and paleontologist from the Patagonian Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Argentina, in a news statement.
 

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