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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Massive Birdlike Dinosaur Unearthed in China


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An artist's reconstruction shows the massive birdlike dinosaur Gigantoraptor erlianensis among smaller, feathered relatives.

Unearthed recently in China, the dino weighed in around 1.5 tons (1.4 metric tons) and stood more than 16 feet (5 meters) tall—an extraordinary size given its birdlike appearance, say the researchers who found it.

The scientists also believe the specimen was still a young adult and that when fully grown it would have been considerably larger.

Photograph courtesy Zhao Chuang and Xing Lida/IVPP/Nature