3m bird-like dinosaur dubbed “chicken from hell” revealed

Anzu wyliei. Image courtesy of Bob Walters

A 3m tall bird-like dinosaur that weighed as much as 226kg and roamed the earth 66 million years ago has been revealed by scientists from from Carnegie and Smithsonian museums and the University of Utah.

In a report published in the journal PLoS ONE, the team of scientists led by Matt Lamanna described a giant raptor, with a cockscomb crest on top of its head as well as rudimentary feathers, sharp claws and a toothless beak.

The chicken-like skull of the raptor and the discovery of the fossil specimens from the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of North and South Dakota, has earned it the title of a “chicken form hell”. The true name of the beast, however, is the Anzu Wyliei, after a bird-like demon in Mesopotamian mythology.

Fossils of Anzu wyliei. Image courtesy of Matthew C. Lamanna et al/PLoS