In a recent study, researchers found new fossil evidence of a dinosaur with a duck-bill species known as the Gonokokken nanoi, which lived 72 million years ago in Chile, South America.
According to estimations, the plant-eating dinosaur could reach a length of 4 metres (13 feet) and weighed close to a tonne.
Two words from the native Aonikenk language, which was spoken in Patagonia until the end of the 19th century, make up the word “gonkoken.”
“Gon” denotes similarity or likeness, while “koken” denotes a wild duck or swan.
The name “Nanoi” honours Mario ‘nano’ Ulloa, a former rancher who helped the team during the initial findings by lending support.
In 2013, a team of archaeologists working under the direction of the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INACH) discovered fragments of yellowish bones near the Torres del Paine national park in Patagonia.
Jonathan Alarcon, the research’s lead author, said, “At first, we believed it was from the same group as other South American hadrosaurs, but as the investigation went, we understood that it was something unprecedented.
In order to avoid harming other animals, the researchers had to carefully remove more than 100 pieces of bone, he said.
To keep this in mind, palaeontologists had to make sure the dinosaur remains belonged to the same species and compare them to previously examined species using available data to confirm that it was a new type of dinosaur.
According to Alexander Vargas, a different research author, “[The] Gonkoken nanoi is not an advanced duck-billed dinosaur, but rather an older transitional duck-billed lineage — an evolutionary link to advanced forms.”
Scientists were able to build a digital replica of the skeleton using the data and research that was available, and they are now working to produce a 3D print so that it may be put on exhibit for the general public.
