Huge bird-like dinosaur fossil discovered
IAN SAMPLE
THE REMAINS of an enormous, flesh-eating dinosaur that roamed the Earth 70 million years ago have been discovered in a remote region of Inner Mongolia.
The fossil of the feathered beast, called a Gigantoraptor reveals that it is one of the most unusual dinosaurs to have been unearthed in recent years. It stood on two legs attwice the height of a man, was eight metres long, and had a head like aparrot
’s and scythe-like claws on the end of wings far too small to liftits 1.4-tonne weight off the ground.
Astonishing find
The finding has astonished experts because carnivorous dinosaurs were thought to have become smaller as they grew more bird-like.
Gigantoraptorerlianensis, which emerged towards the end of the dinosaurs’ reign onEarth, was 35 times heavier than any other feathered dinosaur known,proving this was not always the case.
The team of scientists who unearthed the fossilised bone fragments inthe Sunitezuoqi region believe it may not have been fully grown.
Reconstruction
Dr Xing Xuat the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing reconstructed a partialskeleton from fragments of the beak, backbone, limbs, pelvis and shoulderblade.
Announcing the discovery in the journal Nature recently, thescientists write: ‘Gigantoraptor is remarkable in its gigantic size.’
A detailed analysis of the dinosaur bones placed it in the family of dinosaurs known as the Oviraptorosuarids, a group of feathered dinosaurs rarely weighing more than 40 kilograms.
— Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007
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