New Dinosaur Was 'Chicken From Hell'

Tough, 10-foot beast roamed western US
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 20, 2014 2:06 AM CDT
Updated Mar 20, 2014 7:33 AM CDT
New Dinosaur Was 'Chicken From Hell'
This illustration provided by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History shows the dinosaur Anzu wyliei.    (AP Photo/Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Mark Klingler)

Col. Sanders' nightmare come true? Researchers say a new species of dinosaur unearthed in the US was a bit like a chicken—a 10-foot tall, 550-pound chicken that could rip your head off. The dinosaur, which lived around 66 million years ago, has been nicknamed the "chicken from hell" because of its chicken-like appearance and its location in North and South Dakota's Hell Creek formation, reports the BBC. It has been given the scientific name Anzu wyliei after a bird-like demon from Mesopotamian mythology.

"It was a giant raptor, but with a chicken-like head and presumably feathers," a researcher says. "The animal stood about 10 feet tall, so it would be scary as well as absurd to encounter." The dinosaur, which fed on plants and small animals, was apparently pretty tough, the Guardian finds. It lived alongside its close relative T. Rex, and two of the three specimens uncovered appear to have survived skirmishes that left them with injuries, though it's not clear whether the wounds are from combat or from predator attacks. (More dinosaurs stories.)

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