A brand unusual genus and species of paravian theropod dinosaur has been identified from fossils learned in Patagonia, Argentina.
Existence reconstruction of an adult and a juvenile Overoraptor chimentoi. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.
The newly-learned dinosaur roamed the Earth some 90 million years within the past throughout the Cretaceous interval.
Scientifically named Overoraptor chimentoi, the outmoded creature changed into as soon as a gracile theropod, approximately 1.3 m (4.3 toes) in length.
It had very long and comfy fingers, legs well adapted for running, and Velociraptor-admire sickle claw on the 2nd toe.
“This characteristic is now not utter in birds, whose legs — extra evolved in evolutionary terms — allow them to take care of onto tree branches,” acknowledged lead creator Matias Motta from the CONICET and the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’ and his colleagues.
Existence reconstruction of Overoraptor chimentoi. Image credit: Gabriel Lio.
The fossilized stays of Overoraptor chimentoi had been recovered from the beds of the Huincul Formation within the Patagonian province of Rio Negro. The specimens had been learned in association with crocodilian and turtle bones.
“There are traits that distinguish Overoraptor chimentoi from the unenlagiid theropods of Argentina to boot to from non-South American raptors comparable to Velociraptor,” acknowledged Dr. Fernando Novas, additionally from the CONICET and the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences ‘Bernardino Rivadavia.’
“When inspecting its fingers, we learned avian functions connected to the flight. This leads us to take care of in mind that in a phylogenetic tree, Overoraptor chimentoi is nearer to birds than loads of the raptors known to this level.”
“Our speculation is that within the case of Overoraptor chimentoi, its skill to automatically fold the wings will deserve to bear had a uncommon characteristic than it does in flying birds, given it is a running animal,” Motta added.
“It’s miles doable that the dinosaur’s fingers had the characteristic of guaranteeing balance throughout the bound — by offering higher balance and precision — attributable to the chance of transferring them in a consistent manner, as happens in running birds such because the rhea or ostriches.”
“Decided traits of the bones of Overoraptor chimentoi’s fingers, particularly the ulna, make them extra an comparable to the wings of birds, comparable to those of the rheas and condors, than to utterly different raptor dinosaurs, including unenlagiids.”
Silhouette of Overoraptor chimentoi showing selected skeletal parts. Scale bars – 50 cm within the silhouette, 4 cm in (a, b, d, h, and j), and 2 cm in (c, e, f, g, and that i). Image credit: Motta et al, doi: 10.1007/s00114-020-01682-1.
The paleontologists additionally learned that Overoraptor chimentoi is carefully connected to Rahonavis, a paravian theropod dinosaur that lived 70 million years within the past (Cretaceous interval) in what’s now northwestern Madagascar.
“Both species had raptor-form legs and fingers an comparable to the wings of birds, which approach an evolutionary come absent in both unenlagiids and velociraptors,” Dr. Novas acknowledged.
“We assume that attributable to its anatomical traits, Rahonavis must additionally bear had the flexibility to cancel the computerized folding of the fly, long-established of birds,” Motta acknowledged.
“These similarities would save that Overoraptor chimentoi and Rahonavis would possibly perchance well do a brand unusual crew of paravian runners, which would be nearer to the birds than known raptor households.”
The discovery is reported in a paper within the journal Science of Nature.
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M.J. Motta et al. 2020. Recent theropod dinosaur from the Higher Cretaceous of Patagonia sheds light on the paravian radiation in Gondwana. Sci Nat 107, 24; doi: 10.1007/s00114-020-01682-1
