Xixianykus zhangi

A new single-clawed dinosaur has been discovered in China, says the journal Zootaxa on Monday. Xing Xu, researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology, lead writing the article that described the running capability of Xixianykus zhangi.

“The limb proportions of Xixianykus are among the most extreme ever recorded for a theropod dinosaur,” one of the researchers said, stating that this dinosaur was built for speed. It stood only 20 inches tall, and the fossil itself weighed less than a kilogram. The shorter length of the thigh bone compared to other similar dinosaurs hinted that it could have dug for termites and other insects for food. It was believed to live around 85 million years ago.

The fossil was unearthed in the Upper Cretaceous Majiacun Formation of Xixia County in the Henan province, in central China. The area normally bares fossilized eggs, accounting for a third of all such fossils in the world. Actual dinosaurs, though, are a rarer find.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2010/03/road-runner-dinosaur-revealed-in-china/1

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-03/29/content_9658733.htm