A new species of extinct raptor discovered at the Hell Creek Formation. Sci-News:
Paleontologists have discovered what they say is a new giant raptor that lived in what is now South Dakota during the Maastrichtian stage of the Upper Cretaceous, approximately 66 million years ago.
At 18 feet (5.5 m) long, the new creature is among the largest of the carnivorous, two-legged dinosaurs called dromaeosaurids, or ‘raptors.’
“This new predatory dinosaur fills the body size gap between smaller theropods and large tyrannosaurs that lived at this time,” said team member Dr David Burnham, a paleontologist at the University of Kansas and a co-author of a paper in the journal Paleontological Contributions.
The most startling item revealed from the analysis of the bones were the presence of “Quill Knobs” located on the ulna. The robustness of these attachment points for feathers would have given Dakotaraptor very long wings when outstretched. While Dakotaraptor was far too large of a creature for flight it is suggested that it could have used its large wings to stabilize itself when pinning down prey.
It is likely that Dakotaraptor evolved from a creature that already had the ability to fly and lost it. That a creature of this size would have seemingly kept adaptations for flight raises interesting questions since the “quill knobs” had been thought to be a flight specific adaptation. This discovery will reveal a lot of information about the evolution of flight and feathers.
