Roadrunner Dinosaur, Xixianykus zhangi

Claws for digging out termites

ROADRUNNER Dinosaur

One of the fastest Dinosaurs ever found has been discovered in China, and is also one of the smallest Dinosaurs ever found. It measured just half a metre long, and from the construction of its legs, a small femur in comparison to its lower leg, it was extremely fast. The limb proportions are the most extreme ever recorded for a Theropod Dinosaur.
 
It had a large claw on its front legs, probably used to dig for termites and ants.
 
Xixianykus zhangi was discovered in the Upper Cretaceous, Majiacun Formation, of Xixia, Henan, China, and is around 140 million years old.
 
The researchers were led by Dr. Xing Xu, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and several characteristics of the skeleton have reinforced the fact that it was a very efficient runner.
 
It is the first Dinosaur of its type, , known as an Alvarezsaurid theropod, to be found in China.
 
Some modern termite eating species have to travel long distances between colonies of their prey, so as an efficient runner, Xixiankus would have been able to achieve this.
 
Small Dinosaurs were also vulnerable to larger predators, and the ability to beat a hasty retreat would also have been very useful.