Does Dakotaraptor not exist?

[suspsy]

https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2023/09/dakotaraptor-non-esiste.html?fbclid=IwAR2525jb0A2V4hTgoRR3TJ14PZ_xKnSotpGU5zdm120c7P47cwa20p_7TPg_aem_AVdCEAje1rWrQHCdOUbnzkHrqbA3Vljt2spMBLNxztP5x-nTX4bb309eq16kTlG6dMI

This is an interesting read. It wouldn't be the first time in paleontology that a dinosaur has been shown to not exist in the first place!

And if the claw does belong to a therizinosaur, then perhaps the name could at least live on, albeit as a misnomer. Which also wouldn't be the first time in paleontology!

[Sim]

I'm not convinced.

Contrary to what is says in that blog post, a Dakotaraptor tail vertebra does have the elongated rod that is characteristic of dromaeosaurids.

The foot claws of Dakotaraptor to me look more like those of Utahraptor and Deinonychus than the therizinosaurian's or ornithomimosaurian's in the comparison shown.

Also, the Dakoataraptor ulna which preserves quill knobs is different to that of Anzu's, supporting that there was another large bird-like dinosaur in the Hell Creek Formation.

[suspsy]

Thomas Holtz also offered this thought:

As I just posted over there, the "pedal ungual II" of Dakotaraptor resembles those of subadult Tyrannosaurus such as BMP2006.4.4 ("Petey") and the North Carolina specimen (the "Dueling Dino"). I haven't had a chance to see the real Dakotaraptor claw to compare its degree of mediolateral compression with those of the tyrannosaurids.

[Splonkadumpocus]

Even if some parts are from a  dromaeosaur, we'd still have to ask whether they're sufficiently different from Acheroraptor, which is a question that has been raised since the paper was first published.

[suspsy]

Cau has something to say about that dromaeosaur caudal vertebrae as well:


https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2023/09/le-vere-dimensioni-di-dakotaraptor.html?fbclid=IwAR38WoOuQrYeYMobGSNOprgtFtwUVk48R6qIxkVrpbix81gNIAO1nw70Xuw_aem_Abl454VCdSCXb9iZ_IRU1sPMNIv63-mQ1pq5eeju4qYnj250vdwk1FUEI7weBusHTys

[VD231991]

Even if some parts are from a  dromaeosaur, we'd still have to ask whether they're sufficiently different from Acheroraptor, which is a question that has been raised since the paper was first published.

I remember that the supposed furcula originally assigned to the the Dakotaraptor steini holotype as well as the supposed furculae KUVP 152429 and NCSM 13170 initially referred to D. steini were reidentified as trionychid turtle entoplastra by Arbour et al. (2016).

Arbour, V. M., Zanno, L. E., Larson, D. W., Evans, D. C., and Sues, H. D., 2016. The furculae of the dromaeosaurid dinosaur Dakotaraptor steini are trionychid turtle entoplastra. PeerJ 4, e1691. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1691

[Sim]

Cau has something to say about that dromaeosaur caudal vertebrae as well:


https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2023/09/le-vere-dimensioni-di-dakotaraptor.html?fbclid=IwAR38WoOuQrYeYMobGSNOprgtFtwUVk48R6qIxkVrpbix81gNIAO1nw70Xuw_aem_Abl454VCdSCXb9iZ_IRU1sPMNIv63-mQ1pq5eeju4qYnj250vdwk1FUEI7weBusHTys

So first Cau says there is nothing definitely dromaeosaurid about the Dakotaraptor remains, missing the clearly dromaeosaurid tail vertebra shown in the paper that names Dakotaraptor.  And now Cau acknowledges its existence as if the prior didn't happen and says it belongs to a Deinonychus-sized dromaeosaurid.  If that were true, a largish Hell Creek dromaeosaurid did in fact exist, it might just have been less big than previously thought.  But I think Cau is jumping to conclusions regarding Dakotaraptor, I think it's possible Dakotaraptor simply had a small tail like Utahraptor.  There's also the limbs, which have been shown to not belong to Anzu, contrary to Cau's claim that the tibia of Dakotaraptor could belong to Anzu, as shown in the link at the end of this post.  Plus, the forelimb of Dakotaraptor has quill knobs so it definitely comes from a large, winged theropod.

https://thesauropodomorphlair.wordpress.com/2019/09/28/nuking-anzuraptor/