Image courtesy of Masato Hattori
Joel Kontinen
A dinosaur fossil
discovered in Mongolia boasts the largest ever complete claw, but the
herbivorous species only used it to grasp vegetation.
How can a dinosaur
with just two fingers live? This is according to a study just published, but fossils
may have some missing items that are found elsewhere.
A new species
of dinosaur found at a Mongolian building site has the largest fully
preserved claw ever found. The bipedal, herbivorous animal had only two fingers
on each hand, which it may have used to grasp branches and pull fingers them
towards its mouth.
The 90-million-year-old fossil – which included parts
of the pelvis, both arms and hands, and numerous vertebrae – was found near
Khanbogd in the Gobi desert in 2012, but it has only now been properly studied
and given the scientific name Duonychus tsogtbaatari. The genus name means “two claws” and the species name
honours Mongolian palaeontologist Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar.
Source:
James Woodford 2025 Two-fingered dinosaur used its enormous claws to eat leaves | New Scientist 20 March
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