Small, stocky dinosaur related to Velociraptor named as new species

Shri rapax, known from a fossil found in Mongolia, had strong hands and teeth which may have helped it tackle much larger dinosaurs

By Taylor Mitchell Brown

22 July 2025

Shri rapax fossil

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels

A new species of Velociraptor-like dinosaur from the Gobi desert in Mongolia had giant claws and exceptionally thickset hands, which may have enabled it to take down larger prey.

The name of the species, Shri rapax, was inspired by “the rapacious features we see in the hand”, says Andrea Cau, an unaffiliated paleontologist based in Italy.

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Shri rapax measures around 2 metres long and comes from the Djadochta Formation, which was a land of sprawling sand dunes and intermittent lakes between 75 and 71 million years ago.

It was unearthed in 2010 and smuggled into private collections in Japan and the UK before recently being brought back to Mongolia. New work on the fossil by Cau and his colleagues uncovered bones that were previously buried in layers of rock, including the extraordinary hand.

“The extremely robust [heavily built] hand structure and notably elongated claw of Shri rapax indicate an adaptation for powerful gripping,” says team member Tsogtbaatar Chinzorig at North Carolina State University. “Such a configuration likely enabled it to grasp and restrain relatively large prey.”