Xixiasaurus is a genus of troodontid dinosaur that lived during the Late
Cretaceous. The only known specimen (a partial skull, jaw with teeth,
and forelimb) was discovered in Xixia County, Henan Province, in central
China, and was given a species description in 2010. Xixiasaurus is
estimated to have been 1.5 metres (5 ft) long and to have weighed 8
kilograms (18 lb). As a troodontid with some similarities to
Byronosaurus, the genus would have been bird-like and lightly built,
with grasping hands and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on the second
toe. Its skull was long, with a long, low snout that formed a tapering
U-shape when seen from below. The frontal bone of the forehead was dome-
like in side view, indicating an enlarged braincase. Troodontids had
keen senses and were probably agile. The lack of serrated teeth
indicates that Xixiasaurus and some other troodontids were herbivorous,
as they had lost the ability to slice meat.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xixiasaurus>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1638:
The Massachusetts Bay Colony expelled Anne Hutchinson from its
ranks for dissenting from Puritan orthodoxy.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson>
1913:
Phan Xích Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, was
arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French
Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the
following day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_X%C3%ADch_Long>
1942:
Second World War: The Royal Navy confronted Italy's Regia
Marina at the Second Battle of Sirte in the Mediterranean Sea near the
Gulf of Sirte.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Sirte>
2014:
A massive landslide in Oso, Washington, killed 43 people after
engulfing a rural neighborhood, the largest death toll for a standalone
landslide in U.S. history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Oso_mudslide>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
dihydrogen monoxide:
(inorganic chemistry, humorous) H₂O, water.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dihydrogen_monoxide>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
History is not made only by kings and parliaments, presidents,
wars, and generals. It is the story of people, of their love, honor,
faith, hope and suffering; of birth and death, of hunger, thirst and
cold, of loneliness and sorrow.
--Louis L'Amour
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_L%27Amour>
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