Scientists in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert have discovered a new species of two-clawed dinosaur. The species, called Duonychus Tsogtbaatari, is unique amongst a group of three-clawed dinosaurs called Therizinosaurs.
New Fossils Found
The new species was medium-sized, believed to stand around 10 feet tall, and weigh approximately 573 pounds (260 kilograms). Researchers speculate that the species’ long, curved claws allowed the creature to dig and grasp vegetation efficiently or as a weapon.
“They weren’t predators, but they could defend themselves with those claws. They were big and very sharp,” said paleontologist Darla Zelenitsky, an associate professor at the University of Calgary in Canada and coauthor of a study on the discovery published in the journal iScience.
Therizinosaurs were a group of dinosaurs that lived in Asia and North America during the Cretaceous Period, which began 145 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago. The specimen was recovered from the Bayanshiree formation in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, which dates back to the Late Cretaceous period (between 100.5 to 66 million years ago).
This fossil find was particularly notable because the sheath of one of the digits remains intact. Made of keratin, the same material as human fingernails, the sheath reveals that the claw itself is significantly larger than the underlying bones. According to researchers, this is the largest claw of its kind fully preserved in this way.
“It’s close to a foot in size,” said Zelenitsky. “This is by far the biggest claw preserved for a dinosaur that has that keratinous sheath on it.”
Zelensky compared the creature’s claws to that of a present-day sloth. In addition to the two claws, the paleontologists also discovered fossilized parts of the dinosaur’s tail, hips, backbone, and legs.
“This is yet another example of a wonderful new dinosaur that we couldn’t have dreamed ever existed if we didn’t find its fossils,” said Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology at the University of Edinburgh.
