Giant Bird-Like Dinosaur Fossil Found in China

Giant Bird-Like Dinosaur Fossil Found in China

Despite its girth, the Gigantoraptor was no match for 40 foot Japanese animatronic robots found in the late Cretaceous period

Scientists have uncovered a huge surprise in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China: the fossil skeleton of an unusually robust bird-like dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago. The animal appeared to be a young adult 25 feet long and weighing 3,000 pounds and, if it had lived longer, would probably have grown even larger. Paleontologists said the discovery contradicted widely-held theories that carnivorous dinosaurs got smaller as they evolved more bird-like characteristics. But they emphasized that the new specimen did not challenge the theorized dinosaur-bird link.

Gigantoraptor erlianensis, named after the Erlian basin in Inner Mongolia in which it was excavated, is considered to be more of an “exception to the rule” of gradual size decrease than a contradiction of it. Of note in the article is the theory that it retained minimal amounts of feathers for courtship rituals despite hindering heat dissipation (with an analogy to the ostrich). I wonder if it will be included in the new Creationist museum?