First One-Fingered Dinosaur Found—Dug for Bugs?

First One-Fingered Dinosaur Found—Dug for Bugs?

nuisance animal problemsDig this: A parrot-size dinosaur has been discovered with just one enlarged "digging" finger on each hand, scientists announced today.

Unearthed in northeastern China, Linhenykus monodactylus is a member of the theropod dinosaurs, the group of two-legged carnivores that includesTyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.

Most theropods had three fingers on each hand. But Linhenykus belongs to a family known as the alvarezsauroids: small, long-legged dinosaurs that had one big finger alongside two barely functional nub fingers.

"Some researchers speculate that these dinosaurs used their hands to dig [up] termite nests," said study leader Xu Xing of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. This was probably the case forLinhenykus as well, he said.

(Related: "Digging Dinosaur Discovered Inside Fossil Den.")

Linhenykus' hand does have a leftover bone for a second finger, but the nub of a digit wouldn't have worked at all, Xu added.

That makes Linhenykus the only known one-fingered dinosaur, he said.

New Dinosaur Adds to Tale of Hand Evolution

The new dinosaur was discovered in a fossil-rich rock formation that dates to the late Cretaceous period, between 84 and 75 million years ago. The site is near the Inner Mongolian town of Linhe (map), which helped inspire the dinosaur's name.