Homely Scientist

From National Geographic a giant (like 2 meters or 7 feet!) turkey-like dinosaur was discovered in Utah recently.  The illustration at the left is what paleontologists think this dinosaur looked like.  Feathers, claws, and built for speed.  This is one turkey that might be more likely to have you for dinner than vice-versa!

From the article:

Only fragments of the animal were discovered—a fearsomely clawed hand and foot. But the dinosaur probably stood seven feet (two meters) tall and ran as fast as an ostrich, according to paleontologists Lindsay Zanno and Scott Sampson.

Named Hagryphus giganteus ("giant four-footed, birdlike god of the western desert"), the new species is described in the current issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Zanno, from the University of Utah’s geology department, says Hagryphus likely resembled a closely related oviraptor from Asia that has been likened to an enormous turkey.

Lindsay Zanno had the honour of naming the new dinosaur.

It was pure luck that this was found at all.  Like most fossils it was found coming out of an eroding cliff face.  If someone hadn’t stumbled on it … the fossil could have been washed away and we’d never have known about it!  Yes, sometimes science is one part hard work and two parts dumb luck.

Tags: dinosaurs, Hagryphus giganteus

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