Scientists discover dinosaur with venomous teeth

Prof. Gong Enpu, of China's Northeastern University, who led the team, told Xinhua on Tuesday that the discovery held clues to how organisms have evolved to produce toxic substances.
Gong and his colleagues including paleontologist Larry Martin found that the dinosaur, Sinornithosaurus had unusually long grooved teeth on its upper jaw, similar to modern rear-fanged snakes and lizards.
They also found a place on the lateral surface of the dinosaur's upper jaw that could have housed a venom gland.
During their research, the length of the teeth puzzled Gong and his colleagues.
"The teeth are too long if the dinosaur just grabbed and swallowed its prey," Gong said. "... it seems not to have inserted its teeth deeply into its prey to kill it."
The paleontologists suggest the dinosaur had such long teeth to penetrate its prey's thick layer of feathers; Kazinform rcites Xinhua.
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