'Finger may have been used to dig ants'
Updated: Thursday, 27 Jan 2011, 8:12 AM EST
Published : Thursday, 27 Jan 2011, 8:12 AM EST
MONGOLIA (CNN/CCTV) - The fossil of a parrot-sized dinosaur with only one finger on each forelimb, presumably used to dig out ants, has been discovered in China, a Chinese research institute said.
It was the first time in the world that such a kind of dinosaur fossil was discovered.
The findings of an international research team, led by Chinese researcher Xu Xing with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of China was published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The dinosaur, Linhenykus, was unearthed in Linhe, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China. The species belongs to a family within carnivorous dinosaurian group theropods, which later gave rise to modern birds, according to the statement.
Theropods had short forelimbs and ran or walked on their hind legs. They were previously discovered elsewhere in the world with three fingers.
"The dinosaur's one finger may have been used to dig ants," said Xu Xing.
Digital reduction is common throughout the evolution of vertebrates including dinosaurs.
The discovery of the one-fingered Linhenykus highlights the complexity and diversity of digital reduction.
Xu Xing and his colleagues from China, the United States and Britain discovered a partial skeleton, including bones from the vertebral column, the forelimbs and hind limbs, in rocks from the Upper Cretaceous formation near Inner Mongolia's Linhe City.
http://www.wivb.com/dpps/news/offbea...11-jgr_3705948