Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
International

Dinosaur Described As 'Savage Predator' Uncovered In Northwestern Alberta

Darpan News Desk, 17 Mar, 2016 12:10 PM
    GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. — A new species of dinosaur about the size of a dog and possessing a lethal claw has been discovered in northwestern Alberta by an Australian paleontologist.
     
    The remains of the Boreonykus was discovered at the Pipestone Creek bonebed — a huge gravesite of the plant-eating dinosaur Pachyrhinosaurus that dates back 73 million years. The site is about 20 kilometres southwest of Grande Prairie.
     
    The Boreonykus bones were found among thousands of bones from another dinosaur.
     
    Phil Bell, who works out of the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England, said the Boreonykus was a relative of Velociraptor, which was made famous in the "Jurassic Park" films.
     
    It would have only been about two metres long and as tall as a dog, he said, but it had large claws.
     
    "The bones we have show it would have had big hand and foot claws, a real killing claw," Bell wrote in an email.
     
    "The claws would have been used to hunt down prey. We have a handful of teeth that are like serrated steak knives. These would have been pretty savage predators."
     
    An article published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology says the discovery records a period when much of the western interior of Canada and the United States was covered by the Bearpaw Sea.
     
    Bell said the find is significant because it fills an important gap in how raptors moved and adapted to the environment.
     
    "Its closest ancestors were from Mongolia, so this species probably crossed the land bridge from northern Asia to North America," he said.
     
    "The first bones were discovered in 1988 and laid unstudied in a museum in Alberta for 25 years. We then started to turn up a few more bones from the very same spot in 2012, so that reinvigorated interest."
     
    The most important bone was from the skull. That helped clinch what type of animal it was.
     
    "Although we don't have the whole skeleton, we know, based on parts of the skeleton, that it belonged to this type of dinosaur. The raptors' skin was probably feathered to keep them warm in the cold dark winters in north Canada."

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Man Wanted In India In Dowry Case Spotted In Britain

    Man Wanted In India In Dowry Case Spotted In Britain
    Ahmed Anees Hussain, declared "absconding" from India, is living in Norfolk county for the past four years, reported Eastern Daily Press that sent a reporter to track him down.

    Man Wanted In India In Dowry Case Spotted In Britain

    Indian Guestworkers Reach $20 Million Settlement With US Shipbuilder Signal International

    Indian Guestworkers Reach $20 Million Settlement With US Shipbuilder  Signal International
    More than 200 guest workers from India agreed to a $20 million deal to settle their lawsuits against Mobile, Alabama-based shipbuilder Signal International, according to the workers' lawyers.

    Indian Guestworkers Reach $20 Million Settlement With US Shipbuilder Signal International

    After Modi-Sharif Bonhomie, India, Pakistan Trade Fire

    After Modi-Sharif Bonhomie, India, Pakistan Trade Fire
    India and Pakistan on Thursday lodged protests against each other after cross-border firing in Jammu and Kashmir left one dead and seven injured, days after bonhomie between the prime ministers of both countries in Russia.

    After Modi-Sharif Bonhomie, India, Pakistan Trade Fire

    Indian Firms Invest $15 Billion In USA, Employ Over 90,000

    Indian Firms Invest $15 Billion In USA, Employ Over 90,000
    New Jersey, California, Texas, Illinois and New York are home to the most Americans directly employed by Indian companies, according to the report, "Indian Roots, American Soil" released here Tuesday at an event on the Capitol Hill.

    Indian Firms Invest $15 Billion In USA, Employ Over 90,000

    Barack Obama Critic Indian-American Filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza Ordered Psychology Counselling

    Barack Obama Critic Indian-American Filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza Ordered Psychology Counselling
    A New York Judge has ordered Dinesh D'Souza, an Indian-American conservative scribe and Obama critic filmmaker, to do community service for four more years for breaking campaign-finance laws and undergo further counselling.

    Barack Obama Critic Indian-American Filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza Ordered Psychology Counselling

    Indian Among 20 Arrested In China For 'Terror Links'

    Indian Among 20 Arrested In China For 'Terror Links'
    In an excursion trip gone "horribly wrong", 20 tourists, including an Indian national, were detained in China on charges of having terror links, a South African charity said.

    Indian Among 20 Arrested In China For 'Terror Links'