WASHINGTON, March 19 (UPI) -- A new relative of the Velociraptor discovered in China could provide clues to the evolution of the entire Dromaeosauridae family, a U.S. paleontologist said.
Linheraptor exquisitus was discovered in 2008 in Inner Mongolia by George Washington University doctoral candidate Jonah Choiniere and Michael Pittman, a graduate student at University College London.
The nearly complete skeleton was found in 75 million-year-old red sandstone rock, Choiniere said in a release Friday.
"I only saw the tip of the claw sticking out of a cliff face, and it was a total surprise that the whole skeleton was buried deeper in the rock," Choiniere said.
The 8-foot-long skeleton could help reconstruct the series of evolutionary changes within the Dromaeosauridae family, he said.
The researchers believe Linheraptor was a quick and agile predator who stalked small horned dinosaurs related to Triceratops.
