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Newly recovered fossils confirm that Drepanosaurus, a prehistoric cross between a chameleon and an anteater, was a small reptile with a fearsome finger. The second digit of its forelimb sported a massive claw. National Science Foundation-funded scientists analyzed 212-million-year-old Drepanosaurus arm fossils that were discovered at the Hayden Quarry in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.
Drepanosaurus is neither a dinosaur nor a lizard. It is a 1- to 2-foot long reptile from an extinct group of animals called drepanosaurs, and shares a common ancestry with lizards, crocodiles, and dinosaurs. The only other known Drepanosaurus fossil was a badly crushed skeleton found in northern Italy more than 30 years ago.Image credit: Painting by Victor Leshyk
