New Quen Raptor

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New Quen Raptor
Temporal occurrence
Upper Cretaceous ( Coniacium )
89.7 to 86.3 million years
Locations
Systematics
Lizard dinosaur (Saurischia)
Theropoda
Deinonychosauria
Dromaeosauridae
Unenlagiinae
New Quen Raptor
Scientific name
New Quen Raptor
Novas & Pol , 2005

Neuquenraptor is a theropod dinosaur belonging to the Dromaeosauridae group . So far, only a fragmentary skeleton is known from the Upper Cretaceous ( Coniacium ) of the Argentine province of Neuquén . This genus wasscientifically described in 2005 with the only species Neuquenraptor argentinus . Makovicky and colleagues (2005) suspect that Neuquenraptor was identicalto Unenlagia , an Unenlagiinen from the same rock formation. Some other authors support this assumption.

features

Neuquenraptor was a medium-sized dromaeosaurid with an estimated length of two meters. The radius (anatomy) spoke (radius) is long and delicate and resembles that of Saurornitholestes langstoni . The thighbone (femur) is relatively short and robust, which is intended to differentiate the genus from the closely related Unenlagia , which shows a longer and slimmer thighbone. The fibula (fibula) is chip type on the distal (lower) end. Important features to distinguish it from other genera can be found in the foot bones: For example, metatarsal II protrudes laterally over the caudal surface of metatarsal III ( autapomorphy ). In addition, the metatarsus is arctometatarsus-like with a tapered metatarsal bone III in the upper section - a feature that also occurs in other dromaeosaurids from the Lower Cretaceous and is considered "primitive" for this group. The second toe ended like other dromaeosaurids in a sharp, enlarged "sickle claw" (ungual).

Find and naming

The only known find so far ( holotype , specimen number MCF PVPH 77) comes from the Portezuelo Formation , a member of the Neuquén Group , in the Sierra del Portezuelo in the Argentine province of Neuquén. Other theropods of this formation include the close relatives Unenlagia , Patagonykus, and Megaraptor . The skeleton was discovered by chance in 1996 by the palaeontologists Fernando Novas and Pablo Puerta while exposing the chest of a titanosaur . It consists of fragments of the cervical and dorsal vertebrae, dorsal ribs, hemal arches , the proximal end of the left radius, the right femur, the distal shinbone (tibia), the proximal bones of the foot, and most of the left foot. The bones are kept in the Museo Carmen Funes in Plaza Huincul .

Neuquenraptor was described in 2005 by Fernando Novas and Diego Pol with the only species Neuquenraptor argentinus . The name is composed of the province of Neuquén in northwest Patagonia and raptor ( Greek for "robber"). The Artepitheth argentinus has the Fund country Argentina .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Peter J. Makovicky , Sebastián Apesteguía, Federico L. Agnolín: The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America. In: Nature. Vol. 437, No. 7061, 2005, pp. 1007-1011, doi : 10.1038 / nature03996 .
  2. ^ Alan H. Turner, Diego Pol, Julia A. Clarke, Gregory M. Erickson, Mark A. Norell : A Basal Dromaeosaurid and Size Evolution Preceding Avian Flight. In: Science . Vol. 317, No. 5843, 2007, pp. 1378-1381, doi : 10.1126 / science.1144066 , digitized version (PDF; 507.41 kB) , Supporting Online Material (PDF; 755.11 kB) .