Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian's Leg Still in Its Mouth

[Judi Lynn]

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

Margherita Bassi - Daily Correspondent

September 26, 2025

Paleontologists working in Argentina have revealed one of the most complete megaraptor fossils to date—and a bone from a crocodilian, which might have been its last meal, was still in its mouth. The fierce apex predator represents a newly discovered megaraptor species named Joaquinraptor casali, as detailed in a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.

The team first identified hints of the impressive fossil in central Patagonia in 2019, but it took years for them to excavate it completely. Their discovery represents 20 percent of the animal’s skeleton, including whole or fragmented remains of its jaws, skull, limbs, ribs and some tail vertebrae. While that might not sound like much, the discovery is still significant; previously identified megaraptor fossils yielded even less.

“Megaraptorans are mysteries primarily because most of their fossils are so beaten up,” Matthew Lamanna, a co-author of the study and a paleontologist from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, tells National Geographic’s Riley Black. The previously known fossils from the group have been “complete enough to show us that these extraordinary predatory dinosaurs were out there but not complete enough to tell us a ton about them.”

What researchers do know is that megaraptors were powerful carnivores in South America, Asia and Australia, with long snouts and scary-looking claws. Unlike Tyrannosaurus rex, their apex predator counterpart in North America, megaraptors had long and strong arms, which they likely used to capture prey.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/paleontologists-discover-megaraptor-fossil-with-a-crocodilians-leg-in-its-mouth-180987394