Modern birds evolved from dinosaurs, but it’s not clear how well birds’ ancient dino ancestors could fly (SN: 10/28/16). Now, a look at the fossilized feet of one nonavian dinosaur suggests that it may have hunted on the wing, like some hawks today.
The crow-sized Microraptor had toe pads very similar to those of modern raptors that can hunt in the air, researchers report December 20 in Nature Communications. That means the feathered, four-winged dinosaur probably used its feet to catch flying prey too, paleobiologist Michael Pittman of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and colleagues say (SN: 7/16/20).
Other researchers caution that toe pads alone aren’t enough to declare Microraptor an aerial hunter. But if the claim holds up, such a hunting style would reinforce a debated hypothesis that powered flight evolved multiple times among dinosaurs, a feat once attributed solely to birds.
Toe pads are bundles of scale-covered flesh on the undersides of dinosaur feet, similar to “toe beans” on dogs and cats. Because the pads are points where the living animal interacted with surfaces, toe pads give paleontologists a “sense of where the rubber meets the road,” says Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty University in Yankton, S.D., who was not involved in the new study.
These contact points can paint a clearer picture of an animal’s behavior by providing “details that the skeleton itself wouldn’t show,” says Thomas Holtz Jr., a dinosaur paleobiologist at the University of Maryland in College Park, who was also not involved in the study.
2023-02-10 08:00:00
Post from www.sciencenews.org
A recently discovered species of dinosaur had a unique adaptation which might have enabled them to catch their prey like modern day hawks, causing a major surprise among the scientific community.
Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur, named the Senuitosaurus, at a site in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. The fossilized skeleton of the animal reveals a unique adaptation to its feet: instead of having the usual three clawed digits, it had four.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo suggest that this extra digit may have allowed it to use its feet to catch small animals in mid-air much like modern day hawks. The fossil evidence bears this out, showing that their feet were long and slender, with an enlarged double-jointed digit.
The finding is exciting because it provides a glimpse into the diversity of dinosaur behaviour. Scientists had previously believed that only animals with wings could hunt in mid-air — but the Senuitosaurus disproves that assumption.
The discovery demonstrates how complex biological behaviours evolved over time. The Senuitosaurus’ four-toed feet are very different from those of its contemporaries, suggesting that its technique of catching prey in mid-air must have developed over millions of years.
The research also raises some fresh questions about how and why this adaptation evolved. Scientists are keen to learn more about the Senuitosaurus’ lifestyle, and how its feet helped it to survive in the harsh desert environment.
To learn more about this remarkable species, scientists are now searching for more specimens of Senuitosaurus in the Gobi Desert.
The discovery of this dinosaur’s unusual feet confirms that animals were capable of complex behaviours even in the distant past. It’s likely that future finds will tell us even more about the evolutionary history of this remarkable creature.