'Missing link' bolsters bold theory on dino evolution

Paris

AN ODDBALL, vegetarian dinosaur with the silhouette of a flesh-ripping velociraptor, whose fossilised remains were unearthed in southern Chile 13 years ago, is a missing link in dino evolution, researchers said on Wednesday.

A revised assessment of the kangaroo-sized Chilesaurus, reported in the journal Biology Letters, bolsters a theory unveiled earlier this year that threatens to upend a longstanding classification of all dinosaurs.