Paleontologists have made an exciting discovery in Kyrgyzstan: a new species of predatory dinosaur with a distinctive feature—a prominent “eyebrow” bone.
This dinosaur, named Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus, is the first large Jurassic predator found in the country, and it helps fill in a missing piece of the dinosaur puzzle in Central Asia.
Theropods, the group of dinosaurs that includes famous predators like Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, were widespread during the Mesozoic Era, often referred to as the age of dinosaurs.
Just as modern-day lions live in Africa and tigers in Asia, different types of theropods lived in specific regions during the Jurassic period.
For example, Allosaurus was found in North America and parts of Europe, while another similar-sized predator, Metriacanthosaurus, roamed China.
However, the vast region between central Europe and East Asia, including places like Kyrgyzstan, remained largely unexplored for large Jurassic predators—until now.
Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus was first discovered in 2006 by Kyrgyz paleontologist Aizek Bakirov in the desert mountains near Tashkumyr, western Kyrgyzstan.
The fossil was found in rocks from the Balabansai Formation, which dates back about 165 million years to the Middle Jurassic period.
Over several excavation trips between 2006 and 2023, scientists uncovered various parts of this dinosaur, including skull bones, back and pelvic vertebrae, parts of the shoulder and forelimbs, and nearly the entire pelvis and hind limbs.
The dinosaur is estimated to have been 8 to 9 meters long, making it a formidable predator.
What makes Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus unique is its highly protruding “eyebrow,” a feature found on the postorbital bone, which is a skull bone located just behind the eye. This suggests that the dinosaur had a horn-like structure above its eyes.
Additionally, the dinosaur’s backbones and thigh bones have distinctive features that set it apart from other theropods.
After comparing Alpkarakush with other known theropods, scientists determined that it belongs to the metriacanthosaurid family, closely related to large predatory dinosaurs from East Asia.
This discovery supports the idea that metriacanthosaurids and other important theropod groups may have originated in Southeast Asia and spread to other continents through Central Asia and Europe.
“This finding fills a big gap in our understanding of Jurassic theropods and provides new insights into how these animals evolved and spread across the world,” says Prof. Oliver Rauhut from the Bavarian Collection of Paleontology and Geology in Munich, who led the study.
Interestingly, the fossil site also revealed a second, smaller specimen of Alpkarakush kyrgyzicus. The larger specimen was nearly an adult at around 17 years old, while the smaller one was a juvenile, possibly indicating that a parent and its young were together 165 million years ago.
To share this discovery with the world, scientists have created digital 3D models of the bones, which are now available online for researchers to study and even print.
The name Alpkarakush comes from a giant bird in Kyrgyz mythology that helps heroes in times of need, and the species name kyrgyzicus honors Kyrgyzstan, where this remarkable dinosaur was found.
There are hopes to display the original bones in the National Historical Museum in Bishkek, making it the first original dinosaur skeleton ever exhibited in Kyrgyzstan, if enough funds can be raised for the project.
