"My hands became stuck like this, " he told me, tensing up his digits into a wooden, claw-like shape.

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Researchers believe its short arms and large claw show how bird-like dinosaurs evolved independently of birds.

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"It's like a big, metal, claw-y machine in 'Transformers, '" she said, to much laughter, during a lunchtime gathering at Google's Manhattan offices.

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