Fragments of long-bodied dino found in Argentina

Fossils of a new species of long-necked, long-tailed dinosaur have been found in Argentina. Named Leinkupal laticauda, the  diplodocid sauropod belongs to a family of dinosaurs that were among the longest creatures to walk on Earth. L. laticauda represents the first of this kind of sauropod found in South America and the youngest identified to date.

Based on the rock where the fossils were found, scientists estimate that L. laticauda survived into the early Cretaceous period, which began about 145 million years ago. The discovery contradicts previous fossil evidence that suggests that diplodocid sauropods were wiped out during a mass extinction at the boundary of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. L. laticauda‘s fossils show that the extinction was not a global event, researchers report May 14 in PLOS ONE.