Episode 488: Microraptor revisited and April Fowl’s Day

Episode 488: Microraptor revisited and April Fowl’s Day. We’ve so many Microraptor specimens we all know the colour of their feathers, how they molted, what they ate, and rather more. Plus a brand new speculation for why the primary wings could have advanced. On a lighter notice we cowl some well-known pop-culture dinosaurs: Rodan, Godzillasaurus, Ultimasaurus, and Toronto’s Raptor mascot.

Information:

• Dinosaur feathers had been much more like hen feathers than we thought supply
• Scientists have a brand new framework for determining if a dinosaur might fly supply
• A robotic Caudipteryx demonstrated how dinosaurs might have used their “half” wings to startle bugs (and eat them) supply

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The dinosaur of the day: Microraptor revisited

• Microraptor was very bird-like dinosaur that we first featured as our dinosaur of the day in episode 69. Plenty of new analysis has come out since then—we’ve lined numerous it, nevertheless it’s good to have it multi functional place
• Dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived within the Early Cretaceous in what’s now Liaoning, China (Jiufotang Formation)
• Seemed like a cumbersome crow, however with enamel
• Estimated to be about 2 to three ft (0.6 to 1 m) lengthy
• Estimated to weigh as much as 4 lb (nearly 2 kg)
• Coated in black, iridescent feathers
• Had “4 wings” (legs had been feathered)
• Had lengthy feathers on the arms, tail, and legs
• Had lengthy higher arm bones
• Had a diamond-shaped fan on the top of its lengthy tail
• Had curved claws
• Had each serrated and unserrated enamel
• Had comparatively quick, deep jaws
• Had a sclerotic ring in its eye, so possibly it hunted at night time? However different options make it appear extra like a day-time dinosaur, and plenty, or probably most or all, dinosaurs had sclerotic rings, so may not imply something
• Kind species is Microraptor zhaoianus
• Named in 2000 by Xing Xu and others
• First Microraptor specimen discovered turned out to be a chimera or composite of three dinosaurs (together with Microraptor)
• Xu Xing revealed the forgery
• Solely the tail belonged to Microraptor, and the remainder belonged to the prehistoric hen Yanornis and an unnamed animal
• Somewhat earlier than Xu Xing named Microraptor, in the identical 12 months, Storrs Olson printed an outline of the tail and named it Archaeoraptor
• However Olson mentioned the fossil was a lectotype (occurs when no holotype is designated) earlier than the sort species was formally erected
• And the identify Microraptor was used greater than Archaeoraptor
• So Archaeoraptor turned a nomen vanum (identify in useless), and Microraptor turned a nomen protectum
• Helped present a bit how dinosaurs turned birds
• From the 2000 paper naming Microraptor: “That is the primary mature non-avian dinosaur to be discovered that’s smaller than Archaeopteryx, and it eliminates the dimensions disparity between the earliest birds and their closest non-avian theropod family”
• Had extra bird-like enamel, fewer tail bones, that made it extra hen like
• Genus identify Microraptor means “small thief” or “small one who seizes”
• Species identify zhaoianus is in honor of Zhao Xijin, “a distinguished dinosaurologist who launched the primary creator to the sector of vertebrate paleontology”
• Three species named: Microraptor zhaoianus, Microraptor gui, and Microraptor hanqingi
• Not everybody agrees there are three species (some suppose they’re all one species)
• Xu Xing and others named Microraptor gui in 2003 primarily based on having proportional variations from Microraptor zhaoianus
• Species identify “gui” is in honor of “Gu Zhiwei, a distinguished paleontologist who contributed vastly to the research of the Jehol biota”
• Microraptor hanqingi named in 2012 by En-Pu Gong and others
• Species identify in “honor of the late Marshall Zhang Xueliang who was the founder, president, and later Honorary President of Northeastern College, China; Hanqing is his alternate identify”
• Largest identified species of Microraptor with variations within the sternum and pelvis, and having fewer tail bones
• One other dinosaur, Cryptovolans, has been reclassified as a synonym of Microraptor
• Named in 2002 by Czerkas and others
• Genus identify Cryptovolans means “hidden flyer”
• Kind species is Cryptovolans pauli, and the species identify is in honor of Gregory S. Paul
• Two comparatively full however partially broken specimens of Cryptovolans
• Discovered to have the identical options as Microraptor, like having feathers on the leg, however one specimen had an extended tail than different Microraptor specimens (tail had 28 to 30 vertebrae, in comparison with different Microraptor specimens described at the moment, which had 24 to 26 tail vertebrae)
• As extra Microraptor specimens had been discovered, Cryptovolans was considered a junior synonym of Microraptor zhaoianus (and the variations within the specimens had been simply as a result of particular person variation)
• Many Microraptor specimens preserved in slabs and counter slabs
• Over 300 specimens of Microraptor identified (so we all know loads about this dinosaur)
• Opportunistic predator that went after fish, lizards, birds, and mammals
• Had a generalist weight loss program
• Unclear if a hunter or scavenger
• 4 specimens discovered with intestine contents
• Talked in regards to the Microraptor that ate the lizard in episode 245
• Discovered with a whole, articulated lizard in its abdomen
• Lizard was a juvenile or subadult, and takes up numerous area within the Microraptor’s stomach, with its head close to the underside of the abdomen, the legs a bit increased, and the tail all the way in which up on the dinosaur’s sternum
• Appears the Microraptor swallowed the lizard entire and head first (will need to have died shortly after to protect the lizard so effectively)
• One other Microraptor specimen discovered with a mammal foot inside its ribcage, which implies it ate mammals
• Talked about in episode 425
• Mammal was about 1/tenth the dimensions of the Microraptor
• Unclear what kind of mammal, nevertheless it did have slender toes
• No proof of any rupture within the Microraptor’s ribs so appears the mammal foot was digested
• Unclear if that Microraptor hunted or scavenged the mammal
• Attainable the mammal was climbing and Microraptor seized it (might in all probability climb and glide)
• Although, the foot just isn’t probably the most nutritious a part of the animal, so might have been one of many final components of the mammal to be eaten, and was scavenged
• One other Microraptor specimen discovered with an enantiornithean hen in its stomach (a partial wing and toes)
• Chook estimated to weigh between 60 and 70 g, and the Microraptor that ate it estimated weigh 1500 g (about 1.5 kg or about 3.3 lb)
• Appears to have swallowed the hen entire and head-first
• One other Microraptor specimen discovered with fish scales in its stomach
• Had toes like a contemporary hawk
• Talked about in episode 432
• Learning hen toes, can inform loads about an animal’s conduct (do they spend their time strolling or operating on the bottom, do they hunt within the air)
• Fashionable raptor toes have reticulate scales (net-like sample) which might be sharp (referred to as spicules), to assist grip prey (principally spiky scales on the toes)
• Fashionable raptors additionally are likely to have extra curved claws (like owls)
• Microraptor toes had a lot of options in frequent with trendy raptors, although it’s not a hen
• Had spiky scales, and powerful foot joints, to assist it grasp prey
• Had robust foot joints may help with grip power, and we see this in trendy birds of prey and eudromaeosaurian dromaeosaurids
• Helps for looking giant struggling prey
• Tender tissue within the toes and the claws of Microraptor, together with the truth that one specimen was discovered with hen intestine contents, and the truth that it might doubtlessly flap to fly recommend it could have been capable of “hunt flying and difficult-to-hold prey” (doubtlessly theropods, small pterosaurs, and gliding mammals), might hunt within the air
• Microraptor additionally had an enlarged second toe, could have used to pin prey like Deinonychus did, nonetheless the primary toe is the smallest one and couldn’t work with the second toe to grip prey, so Microraptor could have as an alternative used its physique weight to assist grip with its giant second toe
• Although Microraptor was not a hen, appeared to have a extra specialised raptorial life-style
• Although we nonetheless don’t know precisely how effectively Microraptor might fly, however potential it might a minimum of often snatch one thing within the air
• Debate over whether or not Microraptor might fly or simply glide
• Had lengthy feathers on the arms and arms, and the legs and toes
• At first, considered a glider that lived in bushes as a result of the leg wings had been connected to its toes, and that may have made operating laborious
• Nevertheless, limb proportions and different options within the skeleton make it appear Microraptor spent extra time on the bottom than climbing bushes
• Later wind tunnel experiments discovered Microraptor was in all probability an efficient glider
• Presumably able to powered flight too
• Additionally had major feathers on the hand and foot and secondary feathers on the arm and legs
• Lengthy feathers on the legs had been asymmetrical, like flight feathers in trendy birds
• Had a fused sternum, which can even have helped with flying
• A research in 2016 discovered Microraptor was able to its wings serving to it run up hills, in addition to its wings serving to it leap
• Different research discovered Microraptor might fly, primarily based on options together with how its shoulder curved and the truth that it had a propatagium
• Propatagium is the biggest skinfold of the wing and helps animals with it get raise when gliding or flying
• Necessary as a result of it’s the vanguard of the wing
• Talked about the way it advanced in birds/dinosaurs in episode 436
• Stay birds can lengthen their muscle to straighten their elbows considerably, nevertheless it’s not a relaxed place. Presumably once they die and fossilize the arm bends, and in a constant sample
• Helps with determining which dinosaurs first had a propatagium (search for the bend within the arm)
• Microraptor had fossilized elbow angles at about 36 levels (fairly bent, so had a propatagium)
• Some scientists suppose Microraptor could have used its 4 wings to brood, or hold its eggs heat
• Attainable it sat in the course of the nest and lined the eggs with its feathers
• Microraptor molted/shed a number of feathers at a time
• Talked about in episode 458
• Proof in a single Microraptor specimen, the place you’ll be able to see a spot between two feathers
• Unclear how typically it molted although
• Microraptor in all probability shed its pores and skin as dandruff, much like trendy birds
• Talked about in episode 373, the fossilized pores and skin flakes
• In 2018 Maria McNamara and others analyzed fossilized pores and skin of Beipiaosaurus, Sinornithosaurus, Microraptor, and Confuciusornis
• Discovered that Microraptor shed flakes (dandruff) like trendy mammals and birds however structural variations present it in all probability had decrease physique temperatures than trendy birds
• As for the colour of its feathers, a 2012 research analyzed the fossilized melanosomes in a Microraptor specimen and in contrast their shapes to these in trendy birds. Shapes had been much like birds which might be black and shiny, and much like a contemporary starling that’s iridescent, so appears doubtless that Microraptor was additionally iridescent
• Attainable Microraptor tracks have been discovered within the Jinju Formation of Jinju Metropolis, South Korea
• Talked about in episode 209
• Tracks are very small, at lower than 1 cm (0.4 in) lengthy
• Tracks are named Dromaeosauriformipes rarus (a uncommon dromaeosaur foot form)
• Tracks could have been made by very younger juveniles, and so they’re the fitting measurement for a juvenile Microraptor (in our 209 episode, talked about the way it was so small that with the tail fan a life-sized sticker of the dinosaur would match properly on the again of the cellphone)
• Tracks had been made on a lake shore, and there’s proof Microraptor ate fish
• However as with all hint fossils, very laborious to know for certain what specific animal made the monitor
• Different dinosaurs that lived across the similar time and place embody Psittacosaurus, the tyrannosauroid Sinotyrannus, the dromaeosaur Wulong, the oviraptorosaur Similicaudipteryx, a lot of enantiornithines and avialans
• Different animals that lived across the similar time and place embody fish, mammals, pterosaurs, and crustaceans

Enjoyable Reality:

Microraptor in all probability took some time to digest its meals after which pooped out bones, fur, and feathers moderately than regurgitating them like another dinosaurs.

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