Episode 519: 100 Years of Velociraptor

Episode 519: 100 Years of Velociraptor. Velociraptor (and Oviraptor & Saurornithoides) have been named precisely 100 years in the past to the day! We’re celebrating Velociraptor’s 100 yr anniversary by going by means of what we now learn about this superior little dinosaur.

Information:

• It’s November, which suggests it’s Dinovember! supply
• On November 7, 1924 (nearly precisely 100 years in the past, Henry Fairfield Osborn named Velociraptor supply

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The dinosaur of the day: Velociraptor (revisited)

• Dromaeosaurid theropod that lived within the Late Cretaceous in what’s now Mongolia and China (Djadochta Formation and Bayan Mandahu Formation)
• Named on November 7, 1924 by Henry Fairfield Osborn (100 years in the past/100 yr anniversary)
• (if all goes based on plan, this episode will come out the day earlier than the anniversary)
• Dromaeosaurs have been intently associated to birds (sister group)
• Small to medium sized, and feathered
• Lived within the Cretaceous, although some remoted tooth have been discovered from the Center Jurassic
• Lived all around the world
• Birdlike and sensible
• Had lengthy arms with sharp claws, good for greedy
• Finest recognized for the sickle-like claws on their second toes
• Held their second toes off the bottom when strolling, and solely their third and fourth toes bore its weight (practical didactyly)
• Might have used the toe claws for going after prey and climbing bushes
• Velociraptor was iconic in Jurassic Park
• Began with Timmy and Lex
• Then Blue in Jurassic World
• Velociraptor in Jurassic Park was modeled after Deinonychus, and was the dimensions of Utahraptor
• (talked to Jim Kirkland in ep 34, he talks about Utahraptor is the star of the film)
• Regarded bird-like, however with a really lengthy tail and really huge claws, and tooth
• Has been in comparison with eagles (may consider it like a land eagle)
• Walked on two legs, had an extended tail, and an extended, low cranium
• Estimated to be as much as nearly 7 ft (over 2 m) lengthy and weigh as much as 43 lb (nearly 20 kg)
• Had an extended, low cranium and upturned snout
• Had a triangular jawbone
• Cranium grew as much as over 9 in (about 23 cm) lengthy
• Snout was about 60% the size of the cranium and was slim
• Had serrated tooth
• Had wishbones and hole bones
• Had giant palms with three fingers on every hand
• Had claws on its palms
• Had a stiff tail, although one specimen discovered with tail bones that curved sideways, so some flexibility to maneuver aspect to aspect
• Had a sickle-shaped claw on every of its second toes
• Sickle claw may develop to over 6.5 cm (2.6 in) lengthy
• Had 4 toes, however solely walked on its third and fourth toes (first toe had a small dew claw and second was held off the bottom and had a big sickle-shaped claw)
• Had a big mind in proportion to its physique dimension, so was most likely clever
• Agile and doubtless a quick runner
• Might have been nocturnal, based mostly on its scleral rings within the eyes
• A 2024 research by Yuen Ting Tse and others discovered Velociraptor could also be in between trendy diurnal and nocturnal animals (night time and day)
• A 2023 research by Seishiro Tada and others reconstructed the nasal cavity of Velociraptor mongoliensis and in contrast it to trendy endotherms and ectotherms
• Discovered Velociraptor most likely couldn’t cool its mind like trendy birds
• Attainable non-avian dinosaurs with out a big nasal cavity didn’t want them as a result of brains weren’t as developed as birds and didn’t have to be as cooled down
• Nasal cavity of Velociraptor was not giant sufficient to manage warmth for a bird-like, giant mind
• Wanted vitality to hunt
• Heat-blooded, to some extent, however based mostly on raptor progress charges, could have had a extra average metabolism
• Discovered with quill knobs on its arms (attachment factors for feathers), which suggests it had feathers
• Arms have been too brief to fly or glide, so could have used feathers to draw mates, assist brood, or assist it run sooner up slopes
• Six quill knobs discovered on a specimen in 2007 from the Ukhaa Tolgod locality within the Djadochta Formation
• Might have had 14 quill knobs on its arms
• Nevertheless, the specimen with the quill knobs could have to be re-evaluated, and confirmed to check with Velociraptor
• One other dromaeosaur, Tsaagan, was additionally present in that locality, so have to re-examine the specimen with quill knobs to see if it’s Velociraptor
• Nonetheless, based mostly on different dromaeosaurs with feathers, like Zhenyuanlong, Velociraptor most likely had feathers
• Two legitimate species: Velociraptor mongoliensis (sort species) and Velociraptor osmolskae (named in 2008, discovered cranium in Inside Mongolia)
• Genus title Velociraptor means “swift seizer”
• Species title mongoliensis refers to Mongolia, the place the fossils have been discovered
• Species title osmolskae is in honor of Polish paleontologist Halszka Osmólska
• First fossil discovered was in 1923, as a part of an American Museum of Pure Historical past expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia
• Fossils first discovered on the Flaming Cliffs web site (the place Roy Chapman Andrews went. Talked about in ep 402)
• Osborn named it in the identical paper as Saurornithoides and Oviraptor
• All three had skulls
• “The skulls are completely dissimilar and terribly fascinating”
• Velociraptor cranium present in smooth sandstone mendacity alongside a Protoceratops cranium
• Osborn described Velociraptor as a “typical megalosaurian sort” (numerous dinosaurs considered megalosaurs for some time)
• Osborn additionally thought the claw (the sickle like claw on the foot) was on the hand
• John Ostrom acknowledged in 1969 that Velociraptor was intently associated to Dromaeosaurus and Deinonychus, and assigned it to Dromaeosauridae
• Often known as a raptor
• In 2008, Pascal Godefroit and colleagues named bones present in 1999 by the Sino-Belgian Dinosaur Expeditions Velociraptor osmolskae (jawbone and a part of the attention socket)
• Velociraptor osmolskae had sturdy tooth, a teardrop-shaped fenestra (opening) close to the snout (promaxillary fenestra) that was as giant because the opening within the maxillary fenestra
• However a 2013 research discovered that the form of the jawbone was extra much like Linheraptor, so perhaps Velociraptor osmolskae isn’t Velociraptor and must be reassessed
• A number of Velociraptor skeletons have been discovered
• One was present in 1995 on the Flaming Cliffs, and has a nicely preserved cranium and physique with limbs, lacking solely a part of the tail and ends of the lengthy bones, and a few small components (most likely from being scavenged)
• A skeleton present in 1993 was present in a demise pose with its legs tucked up below the physique
• Skeleton was eroded, however elements of the cranium, arms, ribs, and vertebrae have been discovered
• Primarily based on this specimen, discovered that the massive toe (hallux) wasn’t reversed in raptors, so solely see this full reversal in Archaeopteryx and ornithothoracine birds (which incorporates enantiornithines)
• IGM 100/985
• Dromaeosaur skeletons beforehand thought to belong to Velociraptor have been renamed. One was “Ichabodcraniosaurus”, a skeleton with no cranium present in a 1990 joint Mongolian American expedition within the Gobi Desert (now referred to as Shri devi (named in 2021, talked about in ep 328)
• In 2020, Mark Powers described a Velociraptor specimen in his grasp thesis (MPC-D 100/982) which he discovered was a 3rd, new species of Velociraptor, based mostly on having a shallow jawbone
• Later research discovered it to be distinct as nicely (however hasn’t been named)
• Velociraptor is legendary for battling a Protoceratops within the Preventing Dinosaurs, which was present in 1971 by Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska and a Polish-Mongolian staff
• The dinosaurs most likely have been rapidly buried in sand, from a sandstorm or collapsing dune
• Velociraptor has a sickle like claw on the Protoceratops throat, and the Protoceratops’ beak is clamped onto the raptor’s proper arm
• Within the Preventing Dinosaurs, the Protoceratops was a lot bulkier than Velociraptor
• The Preventing Dinosaurs Protoceratops was comparatively small and should have been a juvenile
• May very well be grownup Velociraptor preying on a juvenile Protoceratops
• Unclear if this occurred quite a bit although
• Preventing Dinosaurs is the one direct fossil proof of the 2 dinosaurs interacting
• Attainable it’s an opportunity encounter between the 2, slightly than predator/prey interplay
• Sickle claw as soon as thought to disembowel prey
• However with the Preventing Dinosaurs, the claw is within the throat
• Perhaps Velociraptor pierced very important elements of the throat (jugular or windpipe, for instance)
• A 2011 research by Denver Fowler and others advised the Raptor Prey Restraint (RPR) mannequin
• RPR is like what trendy birds of prey do
• Fowler and others proposed RPR in 2011 after evaluating raptor toes and legs to trendy birds of prey, like eagles and hawks
• Might have used a Raptor Prey Restraint (RPR) the place it leapt onto prey, pinned and held it with the sickle claws, then would eat the prey, and the prey would die from organ failure and blood loss
• (stabbing additionally supported by Velociraptor discovered within the Preventing Dinosaurs)
• Velociraptor could have used its arms to assist flap and stability whereas on high of the struggling prey
• Tail helped with counterbalancing as nicely
• Jaws have been comparatively weak, so had a weak chunk
• Estimated to have a chunk pressure of 304 N, which is decrease than different dromaeosaurids (Deinonychus had 706 N)
• Though a 2024 research discovered Velociraptor had a excessive chunk pressure in comparison with different raptors like Dromaeosaurus and Deinonychus
• A 2020 research by J. Logan King and others reconstructed the endocranium of Velociraptor
• In comparison with non-avian theropods, trendy birds, and different trendy archosaurs
• Discovered Velociraptor mongoliensis may detect a large and excessive vary of sound frequencies (had good listening to)
• Additionally was agile and will most likely monitor prey simply
• Suggests it was an lively predator that will scavenge if the prey was previous or in unhealthy well being, or throughout droughts or different extended climatic occasions
• Velociraptor most likely ate small mammals and reptiles
• In all probability scavenged and hunted
• There’s a number of scavenging examples
• A 2010 research discovered proof of Velociraptor feeding on Protoceratops
• Discovered chunk marks (on what was most likely) Protoceratops bones close to shed tooth (thought to belong to Velociraptor) at Bayan Mandahu
• Discovered over 60 items of bone (together with a partial jaw) and 4 tooth
• Tooth belonged to a velociraptorine based mostly on the form of the tooth and dimension of the denticles, and the one velociraptorine recognized on the time from Bayan Mandahu is Velociraptor (till Linheraptor was named in 2010, after this research. Had a be aware on the finish that stated Linheraptor description difficult their referral of the tooth to Velociraptor, however the poor situation of the recognized Linheraptor tooth made it exhausting to match. Additionally stated there are many Velociraptor fossils within the space, so nonetheless appears extra probably)
• Tooth are small, recurved, and serrated
• Sample of chunk marks much like different tooth marks from theropod bites, which have been interpreted as unintended marks made whereas feeding (not deliberate bone biting)
• One tooth was damaged
• Velociraptor cranium and tooth don’t appear capable of eat bone and are small in comparison with Protoceratops
• Chew marks on jaw could present it was eaten at a late stage (the tastier bits are within the legs or stomach space)
• A lot of chunk marks, which can imply numerous the meat was already stripped off and the raptor was consuming near the bone
• Attainable it was a bunch looking/feeding state of affairs as a result of it doesn’t appear probably {that a} single Velociraptor, even an grownup, may eat all of the flesh of an grownup Protoceratops in a single sitting (and the Protoceratops was about grownup sized)
• Nevertheless, solely having two shed crowns could imply there was only one scavenging particular person, and never a bunch of predators
• Scavenging additionally extra probably for the late-stage feeding
• This research helps the concept that Velociraptor ate Protoceratops, both as prey or scavenged
• Appears to indicate scavenging or the Protoceratops was eaten after a bunch kill
• No proof for Velociraptor looking in packs, however there are raptor trackways that will present they walked collectively
• Advised that Velociraptor feeding on Protoceratops was most likely comparatively widespread
• In 2012, David Hone and others described a pterosaur lengthy bone (leg or arm) discovered as intestine contents of a Velociraptor
• Pterosaur was too huge and harmful for Velociraptor when alive, so it appears prone to have scavenged
• Velociraptor mongoliensis is basically full and articulated, solely lacking the precise arm and many of the tail
• The Velociraptor was injured when it died (one damaged rib that confirmed indicators of regrowth, so was injured or recovering from an damage)
• Younger, sub-adult particular person
• A part of the pterosaur bone was within the Velociraptor chest cavity
• Belonged to an azhdarchid pterosaur (group with a number of the largest pterosaurs, like Hatzegopteryx and Quetzalcoatlus)
• Slender areas between the Velociraptor’s ribs, so most likely was digested and doubtless didn’t find yourself there after the dinosaur died
• Floor of bone is clean and no indicators of digestive acids
• Edges are damaged, and jagged and tough, which can imply it damaged earlier than or a part of ingestion
• Tough edges not being smoothed out could imply the bone wasn’t lengthy within the intestine
• Might imply the Velociraptor died shortly after consuming the bone
• That Velociraptor specimen estimated to weigh 13 kg
• Pterosaur had giant wingspans, so would have been harmful until it was already sick or injured
• In all probability ate the bone as a result of there wasn’t a lot meat left on the carcass (until it wanted minerals)
• Massive bones swallowed entire isn’t widespread, and occurs when there’s no various
• In all probability was difficult to eat
• In 1995, Norell and others discovered one Velociraptor cranium with two rows of small punctures on it that matched the dimensions and spacing of Velociraptor tooth
• Might have been from one other Velociraptor
• No indicators of therapeutic, and the specimen wasn’t scavenged, so most likely died from its wound
• Lived in a semi-arid local weather, with sand dunes and intermittent streams
• Different dinosaurs that lived across the similar time and place included ankylosaurs like Pinacosaurus, alvarezsaurs like Linhenykus, protoceratopsids like Protoceratops and Bagaceratops, troodontids like Linhevenator, oviraptors like Wulatelong, and the dromaeosaur Linheraptor
• Different animals that lived across the similar time and place embody crocodiles, small lizards, and mammals
• Many animals within the formations have been present in situ and doubtless died throughout sandstorms

Enjoyable Truth:

Paleobiologist Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska not solely discovered The Preventing Dinosaurs (Velociraptor v Protoceratops), she additionally found Deinocheirus and Gallimimus.

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