In 2025, paleontologists uncovered four dinosaur species that reshape how we understand prehistoric behavior — from massive claws used in mating displays to armor-plated bodies bristling with spikes.
The discoveries began in Mongolia, where research assistant Chinzorig Tsogtbaatar at North Carolina State University identified Duonychus tsogtbaatari, a 90-million-year-old theropod with a feature that immediately caught attention: two fingers, each ending in a claw roughly one foot long. The specimen, preserved with its claws intact in a fossil sheet, also bore feathers — a detail that suggests these fearsome appendages weren't purely weapons. Tsogtbaatar hypothesizes the feathers and claws may have functioned together in mating displays or territorial fights, similar to how modern birds use plumage to communicate dominance or attract mates.
Meanwhile, paleontologist Susannah Maidment at the Natural History Museum in London was examining Spicomellus afer, a 165-million-year-old ankylosaur — a heavily armored dinosaur covered in protective spikes. Some of these spikes stretched over three feet long, but what makes Spicomellus unusual is how some of its shorter spikes were fused directly to its ribs, growing from the inside out. Maidment suggests the impressive display of spikes served dual purposes: attracting mates and deterring predators, much like a peacock's tail or a porcupine's quills.
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Start Your News DetoxTsogtbaatar's team also identified Shri rapax, a flying predator equipped with a powerfully curved main claw capable of gripping prey — including dinosaur eggs the size of a football. Evidence suggests Shri rapax hunted cooperatively in packs, allowing them to take down animals weighing 5 to 6 tons, a coordinated strategy that echoes modern wolf or lion behavior.
The final discovery, Zavacephale rinpoche, represents one of the most complete pachycephalosaur skeletons ever found. This 108-million-year-old dinosaur possessed the distinctive thick, domed skull characteristic of its group — a structure likely used for head-butting displays similar to how bighorn sheep compete today.
What these finds collectively reveal is that dinosaurs weren't simply killing machines. They displayed, signaled, cooperated, and competed through elaborate physical features and behaviors. Yet Maidment offers a sobering reminder: we've likely identified less than 1% of all dinosaur species that ever lived. The fossil record remains mostly unexplored.
