WASHINGTON: A fossil unearthed in Argentina of a newly identified species of meat-eating dinosaur is providing insight into a poorly understood group of Cretaceous Period predators, thanks not only to its extensive skull remains but also to the remarkable object that it still had clutched in its jaws — the leg of a croc.

The dinosaur, named Joaquinraptor casali, lived roughly 67 million years ago in what is now central Patagonia at the twilight of the age of dinosaurs, measuring approximately 23 feet long and one ton in weight. The scientists found in its jaws the remains of the leg of a large crocodile relative, raising the possibility that the dinosaur died somehow — perhaps by choking — while making a meal of the croc.

Joaquinraptor (pronounced wah-KEEN-rap-tor) was a member of a group of meat-eating dinosaurs called megaraptorans that roamed South America, Asia and Australia. They possessed long arms and large, sharp claws on their three fingers. They had elongated skulls more lightly built than those of many other large predatory dinosaurs as well as relatively small teeth.

“Megaraptorans are among the least understood dinosaurs of all,” said paleontologist Lucio Ibiricu of the Instituto Patagnico de Geologa y Paleontologa in Chubut, Argentina, lead author of the study published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

The earliest-known member of this lineage lived about 130 million years ago. Joaquinraptor indicates megaraptorans thrived until the dinosaur age ended when an asteroid struck Earth 66 million years ago.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2025