Dinosaur had poisonous fangs, though its venom came in a trickle

The velociraptors of Jurassic Park struck fear into cinema-goers with their vicious cunning, while the Tyrannosaurus Rex's brute strength and magnificent teeth made it the deadliest carnivore in the prehistoric jungle.

However, mainland scientists believe they have found a rival: a dinosaur that produced venom.

Professor Gong Enpu, a palaeontologist from Northeastern University in Liaoning, led a team that examined the fossil of a small dinosaur called Sinornithosaurus, or the Chinese bird-lizard, which was found in the Liaoning village of Sihetun 10 years ago.

They discovered a few long, backward-pointing fangs that contained grooves - a delivery system for poison.

The discovery would help answer some of the most intriguing questions about dinosaurs, such as how they hunted and killed, Gong said. The behaviour of some modern venomous species such as snakes can now be used as a guide to the species that became extinct 65 million years ago.

When it was unearthed, Sinornithosaurus caused quite a sensation in the pathological community because it was one of the first bird-like dinosaur fossils to be found. Researchers spent a lot of time arguing about whether they were birds or dinosaurs, or, if they were dinosaurs, which family they belonged to. To answer these questions they carefully examined every bone and feather.