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Falcarius

By Bob Strauss, About.com

Falcarius (Wikimedia Commons)

Name:

Falcarius (Greek for "sickle bearer"); pronounced fal-CAH-ree-us

Habitat:

Woodlands of North America

Historical Period:

Early Cretaceous (130-125 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 13 feet long; weight unknown

Diet:

Plants

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Long tail and neck; long claws on hands

About Falcarius:

In 2005, paleontologists unearthed a fossil treasure trove in Utah, the remains of hundreds of previously unknown, medium-sized dinosaurs with long necks and long, clawed hands. Analysis of these bones showed something extraordinary: Falcarius, as the genus was soon named, was a theropod that had evolved in the direction of a vegetarian lifestyle. (The giveaways are this dinosaur's teeth, adapted to tearing vegetation, and its unusually large gut.)

Like other small- to medium-sized theropods, Falcarius is believed to have sported a coat of feathers, and may represent yet another link in the long chain connecting dinosaurs and birds. Its closest relative is probably another bizarre dinosaur, the larger (and even goofier-looking) Therizinosaurus.

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