Jakapil
Name: Jakapil
(Shield Bearer).
Phonetic: Ja-kah-pil.
Named By: Facundo J. Riguetti, Sebastián
Apesteguía & Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola - 2022.
Classification: Chordata, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Thyreophora.
Species: J. kaniukura (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Uncertain due to lack of fossil remains.
Known locations: Argentina - Candeleros
Formation.
Time period: Towards the end of the Early Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial skull, lower jaw
and partial post cranial skeletal remains.
Jakapil
is an
interesting little dinosaur as it may represent not only a basal
thyreophoran dinosaur, but possibly also for the time of its
description, an unknown kind. Unfortunately the remains of the
holotype individual are largely incomplete, but they do at least give
us a tantalising glimpse at the jaw structure, general build and even
spiny armour plating of this dinosaur.
Jakapil
seems to have been
bipedal, and had large spiny armour running down its body,
especially along its neck. Jakapil also had a
strongly developed
lower jaw. The describing authors speculated that instead of shearing
and swallowing plants, Jakapil may have actually
chewed
(masticated) plant material first before swallowing. This could
explain the strong development in the lower jaw as other types of
dinosaur speculated to feed in this way often also have strongly
developed lower jaws. This method of feeding and development can also
be supported by the knowledge that the Candeleros Formation where the
holotype of Jakapil was discovered was largely an
arid desert-like
habitat. In such an environment, only the toughest of plants could
survive, and only the animals adapted to feed on them could live.
Further reading
- A new Cretaceous
thyreophoran from Patagonia supports a South American lineage of
armoured dinosaurs. - Scientific Reports. 12 (1): Article
number 11621. - Facundo J. Riguetti, Sebastián Apesteguía
& Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola - 2022.
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