Art News

Remains of Deadly European Dinosaur Discovered

By: Randolph E. Schmid, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON (AP).- Around 70 million years ago a stocky dragon stalked what is now Romania. A new type of dinosaur similar to the frightening Velociraptor — but with two sharp claws on each foot instead of just one — has been discovered by Romanian and American researchers. “Balaur bondoc,” which means “stocky dragon,” was discovered in Romania by geologist Matyas Vremir of the Transylvanian Museum Society. The find is reported in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. “Balaur might be one of the largest predators in this ecosystem,” explained co-author Zoltan Csiki of the University of Bucharest, who noted that higher sea level at the time made the region an island archipelago. Csiki said that while Balaur is extremely unusual, it is closely related to animals like Velociraptor and the feathered dinosaurs in China. The researchers said the fossils show an animal 6 to 7 feet long with a stockier bu