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The Clue is the Claw

When it comes to big, bad dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex has long been viewed as king. But last week scientists announced a discovery that might have made even powerful T. Rex tremble: a giant, foot-long claw, a claw so sharp and so strong that it would have been "capable of ripping other dinosaurs up from one end to another," said dinosaur expert Don Lessem.

The claw belonged to the ferocious foot of the newly discovered megaraptor, "perhaps the nastiest dinosaur that ever lived," said Lessem. Scientist Fernando Novas uncovered the jumbo-size claw in the South American country of Argentina. Novas named his giant find Megaraptor namunhuaiquii (na-moon-ee-kee). Megaraptor means "giant thief," and namunhuaiquii means "foot sword" in the Mapuche Indian language.

One Mega-Mean Dinosaur
Like other raptors, such as velociraptors, the sharp-clawed megaraptor was probably a sharp thinker too. "We consider the raptor dinosaurs to be the fiercest because of their weapons, their speed and their intelligence," Lessem said. "That's how they got to be the bad guys in Jurassic Park." But the velociraptors in Jurassic Park are short stuff compared with the giant megaraptor. It was 14 feet tall and almost 30 feet long from top to tail. That's 10 times bigger than a velociraptor!

The megaraptor is the first raptor of its kind to be discovered below the equator. Its size and location suggest that megaraptor may not belong to the same dinosaur family as other raptors. "This giant claw was such a great weapon that a whole other line of dinosaurs may have developed," Lessem said. "It's a mystery who they are and how they got these weapons."

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Now Hear This: Grrrrr!
Computers Bring A Dinosaur's Roar To Life

Scientists have uncovered many amazing facts about dinosaurs by studying fossils. But there are some mysteries that bones can't solve--not without a little high-tech help, anyway.

Last week scientists in New Mexico used a computer in an attempt to re-create the sound a dinosaur made 75 million years ago.

The sound belonged to parasaurolophus (pair-uh-sore-uh-low-fuss), a dinosaur with a huge bony crest on its head. The team had found a rare 4 1/2-foot-long skull from this species in 1995. Inside the crest was a maze of air tunnels shaped something like a trombone. The scientists believed that by "blowing" that horn, they could make the dinosaur "speak."

The first step was to create a computer model of the skull structure. Then the computer simulated blowing air through the skull. The scientists had to make educated guesses to fill in missing parts--the nostrils and soft parts of the head and throat, which were not fossilized. The computer combined all these factors to create the noise.

The result was more of a low rumble than a trombone blast. But after years of work, it was music to the scientists' ears. "It's not every day that one can hear the sounds produced by a dinosaur that has been extinct for 75 million years," said Tom Williamson of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History.

Next: Creature Comforter