Dinosaur dig finds what may be biggest meat-eater

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) -- The bones of what could be the largest flesh-eating dinosaur species on record have been dug up in the Patagonian desert of southwestern Argentina, a leader of the excavation team said on Thursday. 
"We're facing the possibility of a carnivorous dinosaur larger than Giganotosaurus," Argentine paleontologist Rodolfo Coria told Reuters by telephone from the Patagonian town of Plaza Huincul. 
Giganotosaurus, found in the same vicinity in 1993, grew more than 45 feet (14 meters) long and weighed more than eight tons. Comparisons of leg bone sizes have led the 12-man team to believe they have a new beast that looked similar but was bigger. 
Both of the huge creatures "had much the same aspect as Tyrannosaurus Rex," said Coria. 
Giganotosaurus ruled over South America for millions of years, and scientists suspect it was the reason the slightly smaller T-Rex did not stray south. 
The 90-million-year-old fossils, dug up over the last two years in Neuquen province, define a two-legged carnivore with an enormous head, long tail, stubby arms and butcher-knife teeth. 
The find included five sets of fossils, with none of the 200-odd bones making up a complete skeleton. The remains have been wrapped in plaster and hauled back to the Plaza Huincul museum nine miles (15 km) away. 
One year of laboratory studies will follow before the paleontologists can back their theory they have found the largest meat-eater. 
"The problem now is that the site had many specimens (of the dinosaur) jumbled together in pieces, so at the time it's not easy to get an idea of the total length of each skeleton," said Coria. 

But isolated bones indicate that some of the specimens could be bigger than Giganotosaurus," he added. 
As with past discoveries in Patagonia and in Alberta, Canada, the close grouping of the bones suggests the hunters stalked their prey in packs. 
"It's an accumulation (of bones) out of which eventually we may be able to piece together part of a herd and obtain evidence about behavior," said Coria. 
A favorite meal for the Giganotosaurus was probably the 100-ton, plant-eating Argentinosaurus, which was also uncovered in the vast dusty wastes of southern Argentina and is the largest dinosaur of any type ever found.