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News Release 10-017
Dinosaur Discovery Helps Solve Piece of Evolutionary Puzzle
Scientists' find describes how one family of dinosaurs came to look like birds--independent of birds
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See the alvarezsaur excavation in this audio slideshow.
Credit: Lisa Raffensperger, National Science Foundation
It is interesting to compare the dentition and arms of these three dinosaurs. Allosaurus, or a T. rex-like dinosaur, had sharp pointy teeth. The Alvarezsaur, Haplocheirus, had many shorter teeth, and the most bird-like dinosaur of the group, Shuvuuia, had reduced peg-like dentition. Also note the three claws of roughly equal size of the Allosaurus, the thick short thumb and two skinny fingers of Haplocheirus, and the completely reduced single digit of Shuvuuia.
Credit: Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation
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Reconstruction of the dinosaur Haplocheirus sollers, whose name means simple, skillful hand.
Credit: Portia Sloan
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The skeleton of Haplocheirus sollers, a new alvarezsauroid dinosaur discovered in China, is shown.
Credit: X. Xu, J. Choiniere
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Individual bones of Haplocheirus sollers: shoulder girdle (a,b), arm (c-f), hand (g).
Credit: J. Choiniere
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Paleontologists uncover a Haplocheirus sollers skeleton in China.
Credit: J. Clark
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Jonah Choiniere excavates a sediment block in a sandstorm in China.
Credit: J. Clark
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Excavating dinosaur skeletons is slow, painstaking work for paleontologists.
Credit: J. Clark
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The researchers' findings appear in the Jan. 29 issue of the journal Science.
Credit: Copyright AAAS 2010
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