Latest Hesperonychus Stories

  The same meteorite impact that caused dinosaurs to go extinct 65 million years ago also essentially wiped out ancient birds, a team of paleontologists claim in a new study. The researchers, led by Nicholas Longrich of Yale University, studied collections of approximately two dozen bird fossils of various species from the school's Peabody Museum of Natural History, as well as from the American Museum of Natural History, the University of California Museum of Paleontology, and the...

Canadian paleontologists have discovered the remains of the smallest meat-eating dinosaur known to roam North America.Hesperonychus elizabethae looked like a Velociraptor, but the carnivorous mini-dinosaur found in the swamps and forests of southern Alberta was barely the size of a chicken "” weighing only around 4-to-5 pounds.Nicholas Longrich of the University of Calgary said it probably hunted and ate whatever it could for its size "” insects, mammals, amphibians and maybe even other...

Canadian scientists announced the discovery of the fossil of a species of tiny dinosaur that's the smallest dinosaur yet found in North America. University of Calgary paleontology researcher Nick Longrich said the unusual dinosaur was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites. The fossil was found by Longrick and University of Alberta paleontologist Philip Currie during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta. "These are...

Remains of Cretaceous 'anteater' found during Albertosaurus dig reveal new species of tiny dinoAn unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a University of Calgary researcher who analyzed bones found during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta."These are bizarre animals. They have long and slender legs, stumpy arms...