Researchers in Argentina have made a stunning discovery: a new species of dinosaur, a giant carnivore with slender arms similar to those known for Tyrannosaurus rex. A remarkably complete dinosaur fossil was found in northern Patagonia that paleontologists estimate weighed more than four tons and stretched 11 meters from nose to tail, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology. The previously unknown species has been named Meraxes giga, after one of George RR Martin’s dragons in the A Song of Fire and Ice series. Meraxes lived 90 million years ago during the Cretaceous period and were not “directly related” to T. rex, which began to walk the planet 20 million years later. Like T. rex, scientists are puzzled about the purpose of Meraxes’ arms, given that the huge carnivores more likely used their large heads to kill their prey. But almost its entire forelimb was strangely muscular, according to Juan Canale, lead author of the paper. He joked to Gizmodo, “The function of these little hands is very, very hard to pin down. We need a time machine.
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