Dinosaurs look turkey

Sketch of new dinosaurs, Hagryphus ( Photo: LiveScience )

Fossils found in Southern Utah (USA) 5 years ago were of a new dinosaur with a similar appearance to a 2.1 meter high turkey, showy feathers and can run 40 km / h, live 75 million years ago.

The fossil foot and claw of this carnivorous creature was found at the Grand Staircase-Escalante national monument near the Arizona border, giving scientists the reason to believe that they had ricocheted from Canada. South New Mexico state.

The creature is called the dinosaur Hagryphus giganteus, or the giant 4-legged bird god of the western desert. Its much smaller variants were previously only found in Canada's Montana, South Dakota and Alberta provinces.

The discovery of fossils in southern Utah has doubled the range considered their distribution.

Bird-shaped dinosaurs have a strong toothless beak, powerful arms and formidable claws that help it eat animals and eat plants. Large feathers grew on the back of the back after the animal lost its tail, giving it the appearance of a turkey, said Lindsay Zanno, a member of the research team who named the animal.

Scientists are not very clear about the purpose of these feathers, but believe it is not for flying. " It's quite different from modern birds, " she said.

The bones were found in 2001, but it took several years for new scientists to excavate, study and publish it as a new dinosaur.

T. An