This dinosaur may need used its ft to snag prey in midair like fashionable hawks

Trendy birds developed from dinosaurs, nevertheless it’s not clear how properly birds’ historic dino ancestors may fly (SN: 10/28/16). Now, a take a look at the fossilized ft of 1 nonavian dinosaur means that it might have hunted on the wing, like some hawks right now.

The crow-sized Microraptor had toe pads very similar to those of modern raptors that may hunt within the air, researchers report December 20 in Nature Communications. Meaning the feathered, four-winged dinosaur most likely used its ft to catch flying prey too, paleobiologist Michael Pittman of the Chinese language College of Hong Kong and colleagues say (SN: 7/16/20).

Different researchers warning that toe pads alone aren’t sufficient to declare Microraptor an aerial hunter. But when the declare holds up, such a looking model would reinforce a debated hypothesis that powered flight developed multiple times amongst dinosaurs, a feat as soon as attributed solely to birds.

Toe pads are bundles of scale-covered flesh on the undersides of dinosaur ft, just like “toe beans” on canines and cats. As a result of the pads are factors the place the dwelling animal interacted with surfaces, toe pads give paleontologists a “sense of the place the rubber meets the highway,” says Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty College in Yankton, S.D., who was not concerned within the new research.

These contact factors can paint a clearer image of an animal’s conduct by offering “particulars that the skeleton itself wouldn’t present,” says Thomas Holtz Jr., a dinosaur paleobiologist on the College of Maryland in School Park, who was additionally not concerned within the research.

To research dinosaur toe pads, Pittman and colleagues turned to the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature in Linyi, China. It “has arguably the biggest assortment of feathered dinosaurs on this planet, and, importantly, they haven’t been ready extensively,” Pittman says. Many of those dinosaur skeletons are nonetheless surrounded by rock, which is the place tender tissues may be preserved. Such a specimen “provides us the very best likelihood of discovering this excellent tender tissue data,” he says.

Utilizing particular lasers that trigger the in any other case practically invisible tender tissue within the fossils to fluoresce, the workforce discovered 12 specimens with exceptionally well-preserved toe pads among the many 1000’s examined (SN: 3/20/17).

The workforce in contrast the fossil toe pads with these of 36 sorts of fashionable birds, whose toe pads differ with their life-style. Predatory birds, for instance, have protruding toe pads with spiky scales for greedy prey, whereas floor birds that spend their time strolling and working have flatter toe pads. The evaluation confirmed that Microraptor’s toe pads and different facets of the ft, like the form of the toe joints and claws, are most like these of recent hawks. That similarity means that the dinosaur may hunt prey midair and on the bottom like hawks do, the workforce says.

Different dinosaurs, just like the feathered Anchiornis, had flatter toe pads and straighter claws, suggesting a terrestrial life-style. That’s in keeping with concepts about this dinosaur being a poor flier, Pittman says.

The concept Microraptor hunted like a hawk is in step with different fossil proof. One Microraptor fossil has been discovered with a bird in its stomach, and Microraptor’s skeletal and soft tissue anatomy counsel some powered flight functionality.

There’s nonetheless extra work to do to determine how properly the dinosaur could have flown. “Microraptor will not be a hen, however a detailed relative. Simply because it has ft like a predatory hen doesn’t essentially imply it should be catching prey in the very same means,” Pittman says. However Microraptor’s hawklike life-style “is a powerful risk,” he provides.

Flight may have been helpful to Microraptor when looking, even when it couldn’t stack as much as right now’s fliers. Dececchi speculates that Microraptor’s anatomy most likely prevented it from outflying birds, however could have helped it shock in any other case out-of-reach prey, together with flying and gliding animals.

“You solely need to be quick or aerobatic sufficient to catch different issues in your surroundings,” Holtz says. “So, it’s not inconceivable that [Microraptor was] catching issues within the air every so often.”

Different paleontologists are extra skeptical that Microraptor hunted on the wing. “It could be a little bit of a stretch to me to counsel that Microraptor was pursuing prey in an aerial context,” says Albert Chen, a paleobiologist on the College of Cambridge. The brand new findings inform solely “what the foot was used for.”

Various hypotheses, resembling a totally or partially terrestrial looking model, may match the info too, Holtz says, however the “ft are positively taking part in a serious function of their prey seize,” whether or not on the bottom or within the air.

For now, the image of Microraptor’s ecology stays fuzzy, however as lasers proceed to extend the image’s decision, our understanding of dinosaur flight could attain new heights.