An Unusual New Theropod from Argentina

[Troodon]

An unusual new theropod with a Didactyl Manus from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina has been described and called

Gualicho shinyae

What makes this dinosaur special is that it possesses a hand with only two digits with the third reduced to a metacarpal splint similiar to what you find in tyrannosaurids. Most other type of theropods have three digit hands.

It also has a close relationship with Deltadromeus found in the Kem Kem. Unfortunately the discovery did not include a skull.

For claw collectors the paper has a great photo of the hand and foot claws

If you download it's +20mb

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0157793

[Oxytropidoceras]

Scientists find new two-fingered dinosaur -- and a curse

by Traci Watson, USA TODAY, July 13, 2016

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/07/13/scientists-find-new-two-fingered-dinosaur----and-curse/87025152/

"The new dinosaur's generic name Gualicho derives from

Gualichu, a spirit revered by Patagonia's Tehuelche people.

The team joked about the "curse of Gualichu" when hit

with bad luck during the expedition, like when they rolled

a truck."

They had additional bad luck before they were able

to study the dinosaur as the article describes.

Yours,

Paul H.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Oxytropidoceras