New dinosaur species from Chile had a unique slashing tail

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

Scientists in Chile have found the fossils of a strange new dinosaur species. This dog-sized dino had a tail weapon unlike the kind seen on any other animal. It slashed instead of clubbed or stabbed. Revealed in a study Wednesday, the dinosaur at first fooled researchers: They thought it was like a stegosaurus. But it was actually part of a different armored dinosaur family that hadn’t been seen much that far south. Even though it is only distantly related to the stegosaurus, researchers call it stegorous. The plant-eater lived about 72 million to 75 million years ago.