Terrifying 300kg 'chicken from hell' dinosaur was wiped out by deadly asteroid

SCIENTISTS have discovered a new species of dinosaur that could change what is known about the demise of the giants.

The scientists re-examined a fossil from the Hell Creek Formation in North America, leading to the nickname “chicken from hell.”

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The fossil is thought to be evidence of a new dinosaur species that had emerged at the time, the paper said study.

If so, it would help support the argument that dinosaurs weren't already struggling and going extinct before the deadly asteroid hit.

The fossil in question belonged to a bird-like creature from a family of animals called Caenagnathidae.

It was previously thought to be a juvenile of an already known species called Anzu.

Anzu were large feathered dinosaurs weighing between 450 and 750 pounds.

Now scientists suspect that the leg bones they examined did not come from a young Anzu, but from an entirely new species called Eoneophron infernalis.

A translated version of the Latin name means Pharaoh's chicken from hell.

This refers to the scientific name Anzu, which simply translates to 'chicken from hell'.

Caenagnathoid dinosaurs lived in North America and Asia during the Cretaceous Period.

They look a lot like fearsome chickens and many artistic impressions show them with feathers.

The Cretaceous period lasted from about 145.5 million years ago to 66 million years ago.

The bones in question date from the last two years of this period.

The dinosaurs are thought to have become extinct about 65 million years ago due to an asteroid collision.

The researchers believe that the time before this collision has been underestimated.

“These results show that caenagnathid diversity in the Hell Creek ecosystem has been underestimated,” they wrote.

It is thought that other fossils may have been misidentified and may require mass reclassification in museums.