With flashy claws on two fingers the remains of a previously unknown species of dinosaur suggest that he looked like a bizarre mixture of bug-bug, giraffe and the cult character Edward scissors hands according to new research.
Paleontologists dug the fossil in the Gobi desert in Mongolia, and the discovery is unique because the claw sheath of one of the fingers is intact. Made of keratin (the same material as the nails), the sheath reveals that the claw was much longer than the underlying bones.
“It’s almost a foot,” said paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky, an associate professor at Calgary University in Canada and co -author of a study on the discovery published in Iscian magazine. “This is by far the largest preserved claw of a dinosaur that has this keratin sheath.”
The dinosaur received the scientific name Duonychus tsogtbaatariin honor of paleontologist Mongol Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar. The name of the genus Duonychus means two claws in Greek.
Duonychus tsogtbaatari It was part of a group of clumsy -looking dinosaurs known as the therizinosaurs, which were part of the theopod family that includes the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The therizinosaurs, however, were herbivorous or omnivorous – not predators of the top of the food chain.
The newly discovered dinosaur was about 3 meters in height and would weigh 260 kilograms. He probably used his curved claws to reach vegetation, and could grasp twigs up to 10 centimeters in diameter, according to the study.
In addition to the two claws, paleontologists also found fossilized parts of the spine, tail, hips, arms and legs of the prehistoric creature. The fossil was discovered by employees of the Mongolia Paleontology Institute, part of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, several years ago, Zelenitsky said.
In addition to grabbing, the hands of two fingers may have been used for display or as formidable weapons when necessary, Zelenitsky said. “They were not predators, but they could defend themselves with these claws. They were big and very sharp,” she said.
The best comparison for distinctive digits among living animals would be the clutches of a bogeyr, used to hang on tree branches, Zelenitsky added.
Hands that looked like tweezers
The discovery of the claw of Duonychus tsogtbaatari It is an “exciting,” said David Hone, paleontologist and professor of zoology at Queen Mary University of London, who did not participate in the research.
“I’ve seen fragments of other Gobi specimens, but never an entire sheath like this. The type of preservation here, which is common to the vast majority of formations that contain dinosaurs, usually does not preserve keratin,” said Hone, author of the book Uncovering Dinosaur Behavior: What They They Did and How We Know “2024.
“So this is really important, because we know that there is a very uncertain relationship between keratin and underlying bone,” he added by email.
Most of the therizinosuros had long claws to grab and manipulate plants, giving them “this reputation of dinosaurs Edward scissors,” said Steve Brusatte, paleontology professor at Edinburgh University, referring to the title character of the 1990 hit movie that had large scissors blades instead of hands.
“But this is unique because they have only two fingers in each of their giant arms, so they really look like supergent tweezers you could use when making barbecue,” said Brusatte, who did not participate in the research.
Only a few groups of dinosaurs had two fingers, most notably the Tyrannosaurus Rexwhile dinosaurs of a finger were even rarer, Brusatte added.
“But while T. Rex probably did not use their pathetic arms for much, and definitely not to combat or subjugate prey, these therizinosuros used them as an integral part of their feeding strategy,” he added.
Zelenitsky said the dinosaur probably had penalties, as other therizinosauros “were covered with feathers,” adding to his “strange -looking behavior.”
“This is another example of a wonderful new dinosaur that we could not have dreamed that existed if we had not found their fossils,” said Brusatte.
This content was originally published in a new species of dinosaur discovered resembles “Edward Tissue Hands” on CNN Brazil.
Source: CNN Brasil
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