A joint international team of paleontologists has unearthed the near-complete skeleton of a new dinosaur species in the Djadokhta Formation of the Gobi Desert. Dubbed Gobi-Viper, this 75-million-year-old dromaeosaurid exhibits a radical evolutionary adaptation: a pair of elongated, retractable fangs in the upper jaw, the first of their kind found in a feathered theropod.
This predatory innovation suggests that some small theropods may have utilized ambush tactics similar to modern pit vipers. The specimen is so well-preserved that traces of iridescent plumage are visible around the tail and forelimbs, providing critical data on the diversity of specialized hunting mechanisms in the Late Cretaceous ecosystem of Central Asia.