In the summer of 1965 , paleontologists influence at Altan Uul III in the southerly Gobi of Mongolia unearthed gigantic , 2.4 - cadence - long arms ( that ’s nearly 8 human foot ) . Based on the forelimbs and a few rib and vertebra fragments , they named the dinosaurDeinocheirus mirificus , a compounding of Greek and Latin for “ unusual frightful hand . ” It remained one of the most mysterious , off-the-wall dinosaurs until near 50 years subsequently , when researchers discovered two more specimen of what turned out to be an ornithomimosaur , or dinos that superficially resemble modern ostriches . This megaomnivore was also humpbacked and had a morsel of a " beer - belly . " Thefindingswere print inNaturethis calendar week .
Working in Mongolia , an international team led by Yuong - Nam Lee from theKorea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resourcesunearthed anotherDeinocheirusat Nemegt Formation of Altan Uul IV in 2006 , and then in 2009 , a left forelimb that clearly belong toDeinocheiruswas chance upon in a prey at Bugiin Tsav . This New specimen is 6 percent longer than the 1965 breakthrough . However , broken blocks and some money tuck under a rock ( as an offering to the gods ) designate that the arena had been poached . Eventually , the team recover its skull , handwriting , and foot from private collectors , and they finally baffle together a near - complete animal .
With a dead body length of 11 meter and an estimated weight of 6,358 kilo , Deinocheirusis the orotund member of Ornithomimosauria , the “ bird - mimic lizard . ” The 70 - million - class - older fossils also brings never - before - seen emaciated features to the group . This includes an elongated nozzle and a humped back with magniloquent , blade - like spines . The spinal projections probably served as ligament keystone to stand the Brobdingnagian weight of its abdomen – likecable - stayed bridges .
Its scaly , fishy stomach content and a thousand gastroliths ( the stone they swallow to avail with digestion , like with razzing gizzards ) suggest thatDeinocheiruswas a megaomnivore that lived in moist surroundings . And a suite of unique traits demonstrate just how well - befit it was to river system habitats . A toothless , duck’s egg - like bill allowed it to nip at soft veggies and forage for food at the bottom of streams , and its deep jaw likely house a elephantine tongue for slurp . Meanwhile , mat , blunt - tipped bones under the claws stopped it from slump into clay . And as for its disproportionately long forearms – the longest of any bipedal animal ever – well , they were used for fishing and digging and garner plant .
“ Although the arms have been have it away since 1965 and have always aroused speculation because of their tremendous size and keen , recurving claws , we were completely unprepared for how strange this dinosaur feeling , ” study coauthorPhilip Currie from the University of Albertasums up in anews going . “ It almost seems to be a chimera , with its ornithomimid - like arms , its tyrannosaurid - corresponding legs , its Spinosaurus - like vertebral spines , its sauropod - comparable hips , and its hadrosaur - like duckbill and foot - hooves . ”
Short hind limbs , broad hip for strong muscle fond regard , and large foot indicate thatDeinocheiruswas a sluggish proposer . Here ’s a smashing , 10 - second animation ofDeinocheiruswalking :
image : Yuong - Nam Lee / KIGAM ( top ) , Michael Skrepnick ( in-between )
