Weird Feather-Haired Two-Legged Dinosaur Found In Utah
A new species of dinosaur found in Utah has been called one of the weirdest ones ever and may point to how later creatures transformed into herbivores (see artist rendering here).
Found en masse in a Utah bone yard by a black market fossil dealer (who, incidentally has served 5 months in jail and paid a $15,000 fine for his dealings), the 125-million-year-old fossils are from Falcarius Utahensis (not to be confused with Faldrunkus Kentuckiensis).
Scientists say that though Falcarius may have eaten meat, its teeth and belly show the first signs of a dietary shift to vegetarianism.
"We can see definitive features of eating plants and know its descendents were much more full-time plant-eaters,” James Kirkland, a paleontologist at the Utah Geological Survey in Salt Lake City said.
It is also suspected that the creature smelled of Patchouli and often wore hemp necklaces.
Covered in “hairlike” feathers, Falcarius measured 13 feet long and stood at 4.5 feet tall, walking on two legs.
Kirkland and his colleagues will report the discovery in tomorrow's issue of the science journal Nature.
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