Researchers have dubbed a new dinosaur with a long neck the Halszka raptor escuilliei. This dinosaur was capable of walking upright like a penguin, swim like a duck and it could use its razor-sharp claws on its feet to inflict mortal damage on any enemy.
Scientists were surprised to find that the animal that has a bill like a duck actually has more front teeth than any other dinosaur so far unearthed. Researchers believe that the dinosaur that likely lived about 73 million years ago looked similar to a duck, but with much longer legs and a long tail.
The fossil has been in hands of collectors for many years after it was smuggled out of Mongolia. Now, its current owner says that he plans to return the dinosaur to the Mongolian government.
Some researchers remain skeptical, however, that the fossil is genuine. They have run tests on the bones, and it appears that it is real. If so, this is one of the very few dinosaurs that may have lived on the earth and in the water. They believe that the dinosaur spent most of its time living on land near water. Then, it would dive into the water using its long neck to help it capture food when it spotted something that it wanted to eat.
Now, that scientists believe that they have a complete model of the way that the dinosaur would have looked, they believe that they have found parts of two more that are of the same family near where this one was originally unearthed.
Researchers say that the dinosaur was stolen by poachers when they were working in Mongolia about a decade ago. While many governments have laws preventing the sale of fossils found within their boundaries, scientists say that buying fossils is one of the few ways that they can sometimes get the most valuable specimens. Once a fossil ends up in the hands of a private collector, then they cannot be studied by scientists unless the collector is willing to give up his collection.
