'Shadow of death' dinosaur fossils discovered in Argentina for the largest raptor ever

The fossils of a gigantic raptor three stories tall from nose to tail was discovered in Argentina, making it the largest dinosaur of the raptor family ever recorded, paleontologist say.

A research team at the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences was credited with discovering the raptor's bones. It said the dinosaur was also one of the last to roam the Earth before extinction. The apex-predator was believed to be a 5-ton giant and the largest megaraptor, preying off smaller dinosaurs with its two sharp, curved claws and 40-centimeter talons.

Its scientific name, Maip macrothorax, was given by Argentine paleontologist Aranciaga Rolando. "Maip" comes from an "evil" mythological character of Patagonia's indigenous Aonikenk people that was associated with "the shadow of the death" who "kills with cold wind" in the Andes mountains. The second part of the name, macrothorax, derives from the expanse of the raptor's chest cavity, which is about 4 feet wide.

"This animal is very large in size, and we were able to recover a lot of remains," Rolando told Reuters on Wednesday. Megaraptors had an agile skeleton, a long neck and an elongated skull with more than 60 small teeth.

The creature lived on Earth toward the end of the Cretaceous period and wone of the last dinosaurs before extinction. The raptor was discovered in Estancia La Anita, which looked far different 70 million years ago.

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"There were aquatic and terrestrial snails, plants of very different affiliation, it was a forest, almost a jungle, with puddles, lakes, streams, and diverse creatures such as frogs, turtles, fish, small birds, and mammals," the scientists said in a statement.

"Today it is a place surrounded by huge mountains, glaciers, lakes, which demands that we have to walk for many hours in extreme weather conditions. It is a place that today has an extraordinary view, a landscape worthy of a 'Lord of Rings' movie."

The team of paleontologists discovered the fossils shortly before the pandemic in 2020 in the Patagonian province of Santa Cruz. Because of COVID-19, paleontologists had to initially distribute the fossils and analyze them separately at their homes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Largest dinosaur raptor: 'Shadow of death' fossils found in Argentina