London: Scientists have discovered a new species of the ferocious raptor dinosaurs in China's Gobi desert, after they saw its scythe-like claw sticking out the side of a cliff.
A team, led by Michael Pittman of University College London, found the toe was part of an almost complete fossil skeleton of Linheraptor exquisitus -- in fact, the eight-foot- long creature is related to Velociraptor, one of terrifying stars of the movie 'Jurassic Park'.
Like its famous cousin, Linheraptor had a large curved toe claw on each foot which may have been used to dispatch prey. The 55 pounds dinosaur, which lived 75 million years ago, would have been agile and swift on its feet. Pittman and Jonah Choiniere from George Washington
University came across the animal's fossil bones sticking out
of a cliff face when they were visiting Wulansuhai Formation, a site of red sandstone rocks in Inner Mongolia where a number of other dinosaur finds have been made.
"We were out there looking for fossils but this was like hitting the jackpot. Jonah saw a claw protruding from the cliff face. I am surprised nobody in London heard us shouting we were that excited.
"I've always wanted to discover a dinosaur since I was a kid, and I've never given up on the idea. It was amazing that my first discovery was from a Velociraptor relative," 'The Daily Telegraph' quoted Pittman as saying.
The area where the fossil was found is famous for its well preserved and uncrushed fossils. It is believed that many of the animals were buried alive by sand storms.
Both Linheraptor and Velociraptor are dromaeosaurids, an extended family of meat-eating birdlike dinosaurs from the Cretaceous Period. Tyrannosaurus rex is another relative.
Professor Xu Xing, from the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in Beijing, China, who heads an investigation into the region's dinosaur history, said: "This is a really beautiful fossil and it documents a transitional stage in dromaeosaurid evolution."
The findings have been published in the latest edition of the 'Zootaxa' journal.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 20, 2010, 09:19