科学家发现了一种可能的机制，通过这种机制，中华龙鸟可能用毒液控制它们的猎物。中华龙鸟是一种似鸟的恐龙，和其他似鸟的猛禽同属于伶盗龙。
David Burnham及其同事检查了几只中华龙鸟标本的颅骨特征，结果发现了类似于“后齿”毒蛇的模式。这些蛇的毒牙并不注入毒液，而是把毒液引入刺破猎物的肉的牙齿外表面的一个槽。类似地，这组科学家证明了中华龙鸟的上牙有槽，很长，而且类似于毒牙。此外，这些石化的上腭有一个可以容纳毒液腺的小区域，它与这些牙齿通过一个长槽连接。就像后齿毒蛇一样，中华龙鸟使用的毒液很可能不是致命的，而是导致快速休克，让这种恐龙可以控制其猎物。这组科学家猜测这种恐龙的毒牙的长度可以让它穿透晚白垩纪丰富的鸟类猎物的厚羽毛层。这组作者说，中华龙鸟拥有毒液的假说是对于其颅骨特征的最不矛盾的解释，而且可能应用于有亲缘关系的似鸟猛禽。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
PNAS December 14, 2009, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0912360107
The birdlike raptor Sinornithosaurus was venomous
Enpu Gonga, Larry D. Martinb, David A. Burnhamb,1 and Amanda R. Falkc
aDepartment of Geology, Northeastern University, Liaoning 110004, China
bDivision of Vertebrate Paleontology, Biodiversity Institute, Natural History Museum, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-7561
cDepartment of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045-7613
We suggest that some of the most avian dromaeosaurs, such as Sinornithosaurus, were venomous, and propose an ecological model for that taxon based on its unusual dentition and other cranial features including grooved teeth, a possible pocket for venom glands, and a groove leading from that pocket to the exposed bases of the teeth. These features are all analogous to the venomous morphology of lizards. Sinornithosaurus and related dromaeosaurs probably fed on the abundant birds of the Jehol forests during the Early Cretaceous in northeastern China.
