Scientists believe Linhenykus monodactylus, which stood just 2ft tall and weighed about the same as a large parrot, may have used its dino-digits to dig into insect nests.
The biped creature belonged to the alvarezsauroids, a branch of the 'theropod' family of carnivorous dinosaurs.
Just 2ft tall: An artist's impression of the Linhenykus monodactylus, a one-fingered dinosaur with a single large claw on each hand. Discovered in China, it lived 75 to 84million years ago
Theropods gave rise to modern birds and included famous names such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor.
But researchers found Linhenykus had one striking feature not seen in any of its relatives, a single functional finger on each hand bearing a large claw.
Michael Pittman, from University College London, one of the scientists who described the find today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said: 'Non-avian theropods start with five fingers but evolved to have only three fingers in later forms.
'Tyrannosaurs were unusual in having just two fingers, but the one-fingered Linhenykus shows how extensive and complex theropod hand modifications really were.'
Unique: Linhenykus had one striking feature not seen in any of its relatives, a single functional finger on each hand bearing a large claw
A partial skeleton of Linhenykus dating back 75 to 84 million years was found in a fossil-rich rock formation near the city of Linhe, Inner Mongolia.
Co-author Dr Jonah Choiniere, from the American Museum of National History in New York, said: 'Vestigial structures, like legs in whales and snakes, may appear and disappear seemingly randomly in the course of evolution.
'Linhenykus highlights the vestigiality of the outer fingers of advanced alvarezsaurids and underscores the complexity in evolution of these vestigial fingers.'
Linhenykus lived alongside closely related and similarly sized theropod dinosaurs, as well as club-tailed dinosaurs, horned dinosaurs, small mammals and lizards.
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