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Entry 80Filed under Breeding

Maip macrothorax: The Patagonian Predator Once Called a “T. rex Cousin”

Maip macrothorax was a large Patagonian megaraptorid, but its fossils do not prove it made a deafening roar. Here’s what scientists know about its size, anatomy and name.
2-minute read By Animalso Team
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Maip macrothorax was a large meat-eating dinosaur from Late Cretaceous Patagonia. The discovery team estimated it was 9–10 metres long and weighed about five tonnes. But its fossils do not show that it roared—or how loud it might have been. “Deafening roar” is a dramatic headline, not an established scientific finding.

Did Maip actually roar?

There is no fossil evidence demonstrating that Maip made a roar. Its 2022 species description documents skeletal remains, not a preserved vocal organ or sound. No sound recording or measured sound level exists for this dinosaur, so claims that its roar was “deafening” go beyond the evidence. (Scientific Reports species description)

Evidence from other prehistoric animals does not settle the question. A 2023 study discusses a fossil larynx in the ankylosaur Pinacosaurus and possible bird-like vocalization, but that is a different dinosaur and cannot tell us how Maip sounded. A fossil syrinx—the distinctive vocal organ found in birds—has been reported in the Mesozoic bird Vegavis, not in Maip. The reviewed comparative literature does not establish a syrinx in non-avian dinosaurs. (Communications Biology, 2023; Nature, 2016)

How big was the Patagonian dinosaur Maip?

CONICET reported the discovery team’s estimates as 9–10 metres long and approximately five tonnes. Those figures are reconstructions, not measurements of a complete skeleton. The preserved remains were partial, and the team said the skull and arms were not then known. (CONICET discovery account, 2022)

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The species name also points to an anatomical feature: macrothorax refers to the broad thoracic cavity, described in the species paper as more than approximately 1.20 metres across. This is a reference to the cavity, not a measurement of the dinosaur’s total body width. (Scientific Reports species description)

What fossils were found, and what can they tell us?

Maip is classified as a theropod, within Coelurosauria, Megaraptora and Megaraptoridae. Its associated, but not articulated, remains were found across an area of about 5 by 3 metres at the Megaraptorid Site on La Anita Farm, roughly 30 kilometres southwest of El Calafate in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. The holotype includes vertebrae, ribs, gastralia, a coracoid and other partial elements; the description does not report a skull or vocal organ. (Scientific Reports species description)

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The discovery team described megaraptor skeletons as relatively light, with internal spaces in their bones, and noted their long arms and large claws. Researchers inferred that the claws may have helped seize and tear prey, but the team also acknowledged that Maip’s hunting behaviour and preferred prey were open questions. Those are interpretations of incomplete remains, not direct evidence of a particular hunt. (CONICET discovery account, 2022)

Was Maip related to T. rex?

In a broad evolutionary sense, the phrase “T. rex cousin” can be shorthand: the study’s analyses place megaraptorans within Coelurosauria as the sister group of Tyrannosauroidea. But Maip was classified as a megaraptorid, not a tyrannosaur, and the phrase should not be taken to mean it was a Tyrannosaurus rex or a particularly close relative. (Scientific Reports species description)

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What does Maip macrothorax mean?

The genus name Maip refers to an entity in Aonikenk mythology associated with death and cold wind. The species epithet macrothorax refers to the dinosaur’s broad thoracic cavity. Together, the name joins a mythological reference with a feature of its anatomy. (Scientific Reports species description)

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