Scientists have discovered a new kind of dinosaur in the Gobi de Mongolia desert. Called Duonychus tsogtbaatariThe dinosaur has two fingers long in each hand, one less than his partner Theizinosauria.
Duonychus, Which means two claws in greek, Stood About 10 Feet Tall and Weighed Roughly 570 Pounds, and Belonged to the Group of Dinosaurs Calleed Therizinosursu, Leaves off trees, Leaf-Shaped Teeth, Backward-Facing Hip Bones, A Long Neck Ending in A Small Head, and Covered in Down and Quill-Like Plumas.
They lived in Asia and North America during the Cretaceous period, 145 million ago to 66 million years.
Despite having only two claws, the researchers, who described the specimen in a study published on Tuesday in the Iscience magazine, said Duonychus was an “effective control” that could reach branches or strips of vegetation of up to almost 5 inches in diameter.
NBC News has communicated with the research team to comment.
The specimen was excavated in 2012 by researchers from the Paleontology Institute of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences of the Bayanshiree Training of Gobi Desert, which dates back to 90 million years and is known for its exceptional diversity of Theizinosaurs.
The fossil was a partial skeleton without skull and legs, but the hands were “exceptionally preserved,” according to the study. Duonychus’s individual was not completely mature, and his claws measured approximately one foot.
Although the terizinosaurs were part of the group of theropods, which included meat canteens such as Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus, mainly ate leaves of large bushes and trees.
It is a “great new discovery, and the two claws are interesting,” said Michael Benton, a professor of Vertebrate Paleontology at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, which did not participate in the study.
Dinosaurs used to have five fingers, just like human beings, but they quickly lost two over time, and most dinosaurs had three fingers, Benton told NBC News Wednesday in an email.
“Then, going down to two was unusual,” he said.
The number of digits does not matter when it comes to hook and throw, said Benton, adding that the third finger may have been a “tax” due to its short length.
“He shows that dinosaurs were incredibly diverse and diversified in their forms and functions,” Benton said.
The fossil records of Theizinosauria are “remarkably abundant” in Cretaceous deposits in East Asia, particularly in Mongolia and China, according to the study.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called the Mongolia desert Gobi the “largest dinosaurs fossil reservoir” in the world.
