"Chicken from Hell" Discovered - Feathered Dinosaur from North America
Published:
A new species of dinosaur has been discovered in 66-million-year-old (Late Cretaceous) strata in North America.
It was 3.5 meters long and weighed 200-300 kilograms. It belongs to the Oviraptorosauria.
A paper titled "A New Large-Bodied Oviraptorosaurian Theropod Dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of Western North America" has been published by Matthew C. Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Hans-Dieter Sues of the National Museum of Natural History, and others.
This dinosaur, with a disc-shaped crest on its head, long legs, and clawed hands, was named "Anzu wyliei" after the mythical bird-like demon Anzû from ancient Mesopotamian mythology.
A research team from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History announced that "it was covered in feathers, resembled an ostrich, and had a toothless beak, eating a variety of things such as plants, small animals, and eggs."
Due to its appearance, it has also been given the nickname "chicken from hell."