The Swimming "Raptor"

[ITdactyl]

Halszkaraptor is just asking to be made into a plastic figure.  Hello CollectA.

http://www.eartharchives.org/articles/the-swimming-raptor-of-mongolia/

It's a neat find.

[Ravonium]

So, this is what 2017 chose to offer us near the end of the year: A swimming swan* raptor that was (apparently) described based on a smuggled specimen bought in a black market.


Probably the best early Christmas present I've ever gotten.



*that's what the most common reconstruction looks like to me.

[Justin_]

Here's an article on it from The Guardian with a different reconstruction:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/06/smuggled-fossil-very-weird-new-species-of-amphibious-dinosaur-halszkaraptor-escuilliei

[Ravonium]

Here's an article on it from The Guardian with a different reconstruction:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/06/smuggled-fossil-very-weird-new-species-of-amphibious-dinosaur-halszkaraptor-escuilliei

The reconstruction in that article was the one I was talking about.

[Reptilia]

That dino-swan restoration is quite cool, really.

[Loon]

What a cutie, I'd trade my brother for one.

[Jose S.M.]

Great discovery and yeah those reconstructions are lovely.

[Sim]

This is an amazing discovery...!  Andrea Cau has made a blog post about it which includes a skeletal reconstruction of the animal and shows the skull from different angles: http://theropoda.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/lode-alla-piccola-halszka-prima-parte_6.html  It looks like the banner at the top of Andrea's blog now features the head of Halszkaraptor.

It's interesting how much diversity there is among dromaeosaurids, and now there's even more with this new discovery.  Among dromaeosaurids it appears there are species that are volant, terrestrial, and semi-aquatic.  And among these, there's such different head shapes, proportions, sizes...  It seems dromaeosaurid anatomy was very successful and allowed very different types of dromaeosaurids to evolve.

[suspsy]

What a beautiful animal. Wonderful too how it was named after Halszka Osmólska. She belongs right up there with Mary Anning in my book.

[Dyscrasia]

Synchrotron scanning reveals amphibious ecomorphology in a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs
Andrea Cau, Vincent Beyrand, Dennis F. A. E. Voeten, Vincent Fernandez, Paul Tafforeau, Koen Stein, Rinchen Barsbold, Khishigjav Tsogtbaatar, Philip J. Currie & Pascal Godefroit

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature24679

So this was the reason why Andrea Cau changed his facebook profile pic into a big smiley face in the first day of November. 


Skeletal reconstruction by Marco Auditore.


Reconstruction by Lukas Panzarin

[Halichoeres]

This is an amazing discovery...!  Andrea Cau has made a blog post about it which includes a skeletal reconstruction of the animal and shows the skull from different angles: http://theropoda.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/lode-alla-piccola-halszka-prima-parte_6.html  It looks like the banner at the top of Andrea's blog now features the head of Halszkaraptor.

It's interesting how much diversity there is among dromaeosaurids, and now there's even more with this new discovery.  Among dromaeosaurids it appears there are species that are volant, terrestrial, and semi-aquatic.  And among these, there's such different head shapes, proportions, sizes...  It seems dromaeosaurid anatomy was very successful and allowed very different types of dromaeosaurids to evolve.

I'll be honest, this is the first new dromaeosaurid taxon in years that got me excited! Very cool animal.

[Joey]

I am going to be honest, this guy is my new favorite raptor! It's just such a unique genus, honestly a very exciting find.
But seriously how could you not like this guy, he looks like a duck! 

[ITdactyl]

Marco Auditore's skeletal seems to break the wrist too much (for the folded wing effect).  Is that even possible in living creatures?

I'm waiting for Damir Martin's reconstruction.

[Loon]

Marco Auditore's skeletal seems to break the wrist too much (for the folded wing effect).  Is that even possible in living creatures?

I'm waiting for Damir Martin's reconstruction.

It seems like the wrist has popped out the joint almost, no living bird, which would be the most proper analogue, can bend the wrist that far.

[MLMjp]

That´s an interesting creature for sure

Are we sure this should be clasified as a non avian dinosaur? Honestly this swan-like dino looks like it belongs with archaeopteryx and confuciornis rather than the dromaeosauridae group.

[Ravonium]

That´s an interesting creature for sure

Are we sure this should be clasified as a non avian dinosaur? Honestly this swan-like dino looks like it belongs with archaeopteryx and confuciornis rather than the dromaeosauridae group.

I'm a bit skeptical of the classification as a dromaeosaur as well, but if the paleontologists studying this topic say that it is one, then I will accept it.


It is a cool discovery regardless of classification.

[Halichoeres]

I hadn't looked at the tree before, but it actually does seem possible that it could end up outside of Dromaeosauridae in subsequent studies. The five synapomorphies they cite to assign it to the family are potentially homoplastic (i.e., they can be found in other families, though not usually in combination). And the amount of overlapping material, and the number of overlapping characters, that join it to Hulsanpes and Mahakala are pretty small. Also odd is that all three taxa occur quite late in the Cretaceous but come out at the base of Dromaeosauridae, which might suggest some unknown taxa that a) show an even greater variety of dromaeosaurids or b) constitute a separate lineage that is spuriously found to be part of Dromaeosauridae because of inadequate sampling.



Anyway, seems to me like a good candidate for a Kaiyodo Expo figure in the next couple of years.

[ZoPteryx]

What an amazing creature!  Just finished reading the paper, but haven't read the supplementary material yet.  One odd thing, the authors mention that features of the skeleton look suited for undulatory swimming.  Presumably they're referring to the flexibility of the neck and tail, but other than range of motion, I really can't see this animal swimming that way, especially since neither is laterally compressed at all.  Indeed, the very next section talks about the forelimbs being used as flippers, and this is suggested to be it's form of locomotion from there on out, but undulatory swimming is never refuted.  It's almost like there's a sentence missing.  I was also a little surprised to see no discussion of webbed feet, but that's probably in the supplement I haven't read yet.

Are we sure this should be clasified as a non avian dinosaur? Honestly this swan-like dino looks like it belongs with archaeopteryx and confuciornis rather than the dromaeosauridae group.

If it is a bird, it's an awfully primitive one based on the features of its skull.  Either way, a significant ghost lineage awaits discovery. 

[Sim]

Gosh, how did Zhenyuanlong get misspelt like that in that cladogram Halichoeres posted...?

I was also a little surprised to see no discussion of webbed feet, but that's probably in the supplement I haven't read yet.

On his blog's Facebook page, Andrea Cau has said webbed feet aren't plausible for this animal due to the "raptor" foot claw, in this reply: link  In an earlier reply to that comment, he said the Halszkaraptor reconstruction doesn't have webbed feet, but it does have webbed hands.

Additionally, in this blog post http://theropoda.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/lode-alla-piccola-halszka-terza-parte.html Andrea has said: Halszkaraptor seems to have swum using its forelimbs.  Its hindlimbs don't show adaptations for swimming, and Halszkaraptor's more upright posture appears to have been required for it to have efficient bipedal locomotion on land.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Starting to see some skepticism in postings on social media regarding the origins and possible issues with the fossil, and some questioning its authenticity....has anyone else noticed yet? I would not start sculpting new models just yet...