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funeralxempire
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24 Aug 2023, 8:42 am
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/202 ... tives.html
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06359-z
https://www.popsci.com/science/flightle ... claw-beak/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venetoraptor
Quote:
What are the lagerpetids?
The lagerpetids are a group of reptiles that lived during the Middle and Late Triassic, which lasted from 247 to 201 million years ago. Their fossils are most commonly found in North and South America but tend to be incomplete, which limits how much can be learned from them.
Historically, the bones which have survived suggested that they might have been some of the closest relatives of the dinosaurs. As new fossils have been discovered, however, the evidence now points to the lagerpetids being the closest relatives of pterosaurs instead.
‘When the first lagerpetids were discovered in the 1960s, there were relatively few species to examine,’ Paul says. ‘In the past decade, there have been a flurry of new papers describing new species and reinterpreting old ones, revealing how these groups are linked to the origins of flying reptiles.’
The lagerpetids are a group of reptiles that lived during the Middle and Late Triassic, which lasted from 247 to 201 million years ago. Their fossils are most commonly found in North and South America but tend to be incomplete, which limits how much can be learned from them.
Historically, the bones which have survived suggested that they might have been some of the closest relatives of the dinosaurs. As new fossils have been discovered, however, the evidence now points to the lagerpetids being the closest relatives of pterosaurs instead.
‘When the first lagerpetids were discovered in the 1960s, there were relatively few species to examine,’ Paul says. ‘In the past decade, there have been a flurry of new papers describing new species and reinterpreting old ones, revealing how these groups are linked to the origins of flying reptiles.’
Quote:
What was Venetoraptor like?
Using the bones, the team estimate that Venetoraptor was around a metre long and about 30 centimetres tall at the hips. It would have weighed around four to eight kilograms, or about the same as a domestic cat.
Like cats, it’s possible that Venetoraptor could have been a hunter. It had a sharp beak similar to those of eagles, with a hook at the end which was well-adapted for tearing flesh or piercing hard fruits. It may have been able to find food up in the canopy, with clawed legs and feet that might have allowed the reptile to climb trees.
Using the bones, the team estimate that Venetoraptor was around a metre long and about 30 centimetres tall at the hips. It would have weighed around four to eight kilograms, or about the same as a domestic cat.
Like cats, it’s possible that Venetoraptor could have been a hunter. It had a sharp beak similar to those of eagles, with a hook at the end which was well-adapted for tearing flesh or piercing hard fruits. It may have been able to find food up in the canopy, with clawed legs and feet that might have allowed the reptile to climb trees.
