This dinosaur may have had a body like a duck

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A dinosaur discovered in Mongolia is causing a sensation among paleontologists, as its sleek frame adds potential evidence to the idea that some dinosaurs were suited to life in water.

natovinator polydontus It may have been the first known non-avian dinosaur to possess Streamlined body comparable to that of modern diving birdsResearchers reported on December 1, 2018 Communication biology. natovinator Other closely related dinosaurs may have been swimming predators, the researchers say, challenging the popular notion that all dinosaurs were land animals.

natovinator It was small like a duck and probably used its forelimbs when swimming, says Young-nam Lee, a vertebrate paleontologist at Seoul National University in South Korea. “We think so natovinator He lived in shallow waters and ate small fish.

This is not the first time that researchers suspected a non-avian dinosaur of an aquatic lifestyle. For years, paleontologists debated whether Spinosaurs were aquatic predators (SN: 3/23/22). And in 2017, researchers reported that Halscaraptor —a relative natovinator – has features Similar to those found in waterfowl and reptilesalthough scientists could not deduce the shape of the body.

In the new study, Li and colleagues analyzed a well-preserved skeleton from the Hermin Tsav fossil formation in Mongolia, found in rocks from the Upper Cretaceous period, dating from about 100 million to 66 million years ago. Skull, teeth, neck and limbs natovinator She is closer to those Halscaraptorthe team reports, suggesting the two may have had similar lives.

What’s more, trend natovinatorIts ribs, researchers say, indicate that it had a streamlined body like that of modern waterfowl, with a compressed, flat rib cage similar to that of an aquatic reptile.

close similarity between natovinator The duck or cormorant is certainly an example of what is known as convergent evolution, says Thomas Holtz Jr., a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Maryland in College Park who was not involved in the study. Similar body plans develop because of similar lifestyles.

It is still not clear how strong the swimmer is natovinator It may be. The dinosaur’s forelimbs appeared to be short, and its hind limbs seemed to lack the features of propelling, kick-like swimmers, Holtz says. But semi-aquatic mammals like mink and some successful modern predators have skeletons that aren’t highly specialized for life in water either, he says. “So natovinator It may be intermediate in swimming ability, between something like a mink and a slime.

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