Scientists discover remains of a herbivorous dinosaur in the driest desert in the world

Santiago-Sana

Scientists in Chile's Atacama Desert, the driest in the world, have discovered the remains of a previously unknown type of herbivorous dinosaur.

The team, led by Chilean geologist Carlos Arevalo, found the remains of the dinosaur Aracar Lysanante, meaning Atacama bones in the Kunza language, 75 kilometers south of the desert city of Copiapo.

The dinosaur was distinguished by its small head, long neck and tail, in addition to an unusually flat back compared to its ilk, and lived among flowering plants, ferns and palm trees during the Cretaceous period 66 to 80 million years ago.

And the Atacama Desert, which millions of years ago was filled with greenery, has now become a barren surface covered with rocks and sand, parts of which have not seen rain for a hundred years.