New York :The bones of Mononykust olecranus, a strange, odd-looking creature resembling a bird-like dinosaur were unearthed in Africa's Gobi desert. The Gobi desert, considered a treasure house for paleontologists, has surrendered as a result of several excavations, the bones of a variety of dinosuars and other extinct species. According to a report in 'Discover', a team of scientists working on the project are of the opinion that Mononykus which is 75 million years old could probably be the latest entrant into the family tree of birds.

This strange looking creature with the body profile of a dinosaur but the featheres and general appearance of a monstrous bird, has short, stubby upper arms instead of wings which culminate in sturdy, single claws. These 'hooking' claws were probably used to tear plants or insect nests apart, feels Mark Norell, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History. The name Mononykus stands for "single claw".

The fact that the creature possessed a keel-a conspicuous ridge extending from the breast bone to which the most important flight muscles are attached, led some researchers to believe that the Mononykus was more bird than dinosaur. However, the presence of the upper arms in place of wings and the consequent inability to fly has many experts opposing this contention. Storrs Olson, a bird curator at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, believes that Mononykus was more like a mole as the keeled breast bone possessed the characteristics of a 'digging' rather than a 'flying' animal. All experts seem to agree that the best thing to do in the circumstances would be to call this fabulous creature a birdlike dinosaur.

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