Scientists Discovered a Dinosaur Ancestor Called the 'Antarctic King'

Scientists Discovered a Dinosaur Ancestor Called the 'Antarctic King'

5 years ago
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https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/qvybzx/scientists-discovered-a-dinosaur-ancestor-called-the-antarctic-king

Scientists discovered a 250-million-year-old, iguana-sized dinosaur ancestor in Antarctica, according to findings published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on Thursday.

The new species was named Antarctanax shackletoni. The first part of the name means “Antarctic king,” and the second part pays tribute to Ernest Shackleton, the twentieth-century explorer who named the Fremouw Formation, the rock formation in the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica where the species was excavated by lead author Brandon Peecook in a 2010-2011 Antarctic expedition, during the austral summer. The study was authored by Peecock as well as scientists from the University of Washington and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.