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Scientists Announce New Dinosaur Discovery
Scientists from United States have reported discovery of a new species of dinosaur. The discovered fossils are offering clues regarding the extinction of the species 66 million years ago.
The new discovered dinosaurs have been dubbed 'Aznu Wyliei'. These are believed to be a bird-like creature having bony crest on top of a beaky head and a long tail like lizard.
"We had inklings that there might be such a creature out there, but now with these bones we have 80% of the skeleton and can really look in detail at the structure of this animal and make inferences about its biology," said Hans Sues, curator of vertebrate palaeontology in the department of palaeobiology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, according to BBC.
"Anzu is really bizarre, even by dinosaur standards. The skull has this extraordinarily tall and thin crest with a snout and a huge beak with sharp edges and a strange sliding jaw joint that could be used to cut up vegetation and meat," he added.
Researchers identified the animal from the partial remains of three skeletons collected in North and South Dakota.
The animal measured the size of a small car sporting claws and feathers on its upper arms, said researchers. They belong to a group of dinosaurs named Oviraptorosauria.
Interestingly, the scientists have nicknamed it "the chicken from Hell" because of its appearance and where it belonged to.
"This is consistent with the idea that a mass extinction was caused by the great asteroid impact 66 million years ago. It's clear that dinosaurs were still quite diverse until the very end," said Dr Sues, according to BBC.
The detailed report has been filed in the PLoS ONE journal.
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