Velociraptrine fossil with unusually strong hands suggests a new predatory niche

An international group of paleontologists led by the University of Poitiers, in France, reports that a recently recovered velociraptrine fossil, Shri Rapax, brandished unusual and powerful clawed hands. The results indicate an evolving niche in the desert fauna of the upper Cretaceous of Mongolia.

Research on Dromaeosauridae, from small to carnivorous feathers, generally focus on their robust foot claws. Previous descriptions of Mongolian velociraptor and related dromaeosaurides documented with proportionally thin, unlike the morphology of the enlarged hand observed in Shri Rapax.

In the study, “a new dinosaur in the form of a bird of the upper Cretaceous of Mongolia with extremely robust hands supports the partitioning of niche among the velociraptorins”, published in Historical biologyThe researchers described an almost complete skeleton of different sources to assess whether the manual form has reported a separate predatory strategy.

The origin of the SHRI Rapax specimen is darken by poaching of the black market which occurred before 2010, sending it to private collections in Japan and later in England. The skull and the first four cervical vertebrae were separated and scanned in 2016 at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (Rbins), after which they were returned to the owner. The current location of these materials remains unknown.

The rest of the skeleton, 23 tail vertebrae, an intact manus (hand) and the most important belt elements (shoulder and pelvic bones), was obtained by the French company Eldonia and later repatriated in Mongolia. A distribution of the missing head elements, printed from the 2016 digitization data, now accompanies the original mounted sample.

The preparation and consolidation work carried out in the Rbins revealed an unpresentation anatomy, in particular the right arm and the left pelvic bones. The specimen, now hosted at the Institute of Paleontology and Geology in Ulaanbaatar as MPC-D 102/117, was probably recovered from the formation of Djadokhta in Mongolia on the basis of its sediment matrix, although its precise locality remains uncertain.

Calculated tomography and photogrammetric modeling captured skulls (bone articulations of the skull), double spurocoels (filled cavities) in the first two back ridges (verteès near the shoulders). Digit I wider than the figures II + III combined.

Morphometric and cladistic analyzes have placed Shri Rapax as a sister of species of Baruungoyot Shri Devi training, with divergence in 10 post-Crânian features, including a 135 ° opisthopubic pubis (absence of hip hip) and an absence of ischium 66% of the length of the back). The structure of the enlarged hand involves forces of manipulation of prey exceeding those deducted for velociraptor, while the measures of the skull indicate a stronger bite.

Researchers conclude that the oversized hands and robust jaws allow Shri Rapax to tackle the wretches, possibly adult proto -drips or juvenile ankylosaurs, reducing food over food with other véloiraptorines.

The broader partitioning of prey among predators helps to explain the diversity of unexpected and unexpected Dromaeosaurides preserved in the Dunes of the Gobi Dunes, illuminating the way in which mesozoic foods balance the competition thanks to the specialization of prey.

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