Balaur Bondoc, the "dragon stout" Hungarian

Velociraptor had a strange European cousin, a carnivorous dinosaur about 60 million years ago,
with double claws on his feet. It was presented this week in PNAS are researchers at the University of Bucharest who have baptized Balaur Bondoc ("Dragon squat" in Hungarian). The discovery is important because it is the fossil of the European predator (the group of theropods) of the Late Cretaceous fuller found so far. That, moreover, has at least 20 unique characteristics.

Paleontologists Hungarian, with colleagues in the Museum of Natural History in New York, have unearthed a lower limb and both the upper legs, hip, spine, ribs and bones of the tail. A particular feature is the presence of two large claws on the first two toes of the foot that is short and stocky, like the legs (hence the name), and that has some bones fused together. The pelvic bone also has a huge area for the attachment of muscles. The hand is atrophied (again, some bones are fused), indicating that the animal would have difficulty grasping the prey.

Based on stratigraphic data, we know that in the Late Cretaceous of Europe was composed of an archipelago of islands, so far it was believed that they were inhabited by animals smaller than those on land. The discovery of a new reptile, similar in size to the continental fauna, now seems to disrupt this belief. "The relationship of this predator with the Velociraptor and feathered dinosaurs in China suggests that Europe has had the 'faunal exchanges' with Asia and North America," the researchers conclude.

Reference: doi: 10.1073/pnas.1006970107

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