Dinosaur of the day - October 09, 2007
Those who enjoyed Nature’s recent feature on the Walking With Dinosaurs live experience currently touring America may be interested to know that a team including the palaeontologist featured in that article, Ken Lacovara of Drexel University, has just announced the discovery of a fearsome looking but apparently plant eating new dinosaur Suzhousaurus megatherioides. The team was led by Dr Hai-Lu You of the Chinese Academy of Geological Science and the research is published in Acta Geologica Sinica. In a press release, Lacovara describes the therizinosaurs, of which this is one, as being “characterized by feathered bodies, turkey-like heads, Edward Scissorhands-like claws, and plump pot-bellies.”
There’s been some media pick up in Live Science and in the Pittsbugh papers, reflecting the local affiliation of another team member, Matt Lamanna of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. The Philadelphia Inquirer, though, seems to have passed on it. Meanwhile Fox News cuts to the chase with a classic headline over the Live Science piece: Funny-looking dinosaur found in China.
What’s more, Ken and his wife have just had a son. Congratulations!
By Oliver Morton.
Illustration: Mark A. Klingler, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
