This dinosaur may have used its feet to snag prey in mid-air like modern hawks

Modern birds evolved from dinosaurs, but it is not clear how well the older dino birds could fly.SN: 10/28/16). Now, look at the fossilized feet of one of the nonavian dinosaurs, suggesting that it hunted on the wing, like some hawks do today.

The size of the cornice Microraptor thumb pads very similar to those of modern raptors that can hunt in the air, researchers report on December 20 Nature Communications. That means the feathered, four-finned dinosaur probably used its feet to catch even flying prey, say paleobiologist Michael Pittman at the University of Hong Kong and Chinese colleagues (SN: 7/16/20).

Other researchers advise that foot pads alone are not enough to declare Microraptor air hunter If it is claimed, such a hunting style would confirm the debated hypothesis that flight potentially evolved multiple times in the dinosaurs, a feat once attributed solely to birds.

The foot pads are the bundles of fleshy scales covered on the underside of the feet of dinosaurs, just like the foot pods on dogs and cats. Because the pads are points where a living animal interacts with surfaces, foot pads give paleontologists “a sense of where the rubber meets the road,” says Alexander Dececchi, a paleontologist at Mount Marty University in Yankton, SD who was not involved. new study

These points of contact can paint a clearer picture of the animal’s behavior while “detailing the skeleton itself wouldn’t show,” said Thomas Holtz Jr., a paleobiologist at the University of Maryland’s College Park in Dinosaurs, who also wasn’t involved. study

To research dinosaur foot pads, Pittman and colleagues turned to the Tianyu Shandong Nature Museum in Linyi, China. It “arguably has the largest collection of feathered dinosaurs in the world, and, above all, they have not been extensively prepared,” Pittman said. Many of these dinosaur skeletons are still surrounded by rock, where soft tissues can be preserved. Such a sample “gives us the best amount of information for finding this wonderful soft tissue.”

Using special lasers that cause soft fluorescence in fossils that are otherwise almost invisible, the team found 12 specimens with excellently preserved foot pads among the thousands examined.SN: 3/20/17).

The team compared fossil foot pads with those of 36 species of modern birds, whose foot pads vary with lifestyle. Birds of prey, for example, have protruding toe pads with spiked scales for catching prey, while land birds that spend time walking and running have flatter foot pads. The analysis shows that Microraptorthe pads of the feet and other parts of the feet, such as the shape of the joints and claws of the foot, are very similar to those of modern hawks. That similarity suggests that dinosaurs could hunt prey in mid-air and on land, like hawks, the team says.

Other ancient dinosaurs, like feathers Anchiornis; He had flattered toe pads and straighter fingernails, suggesting an earthly lifestyle. That suggests that ideas about this poor dinosaur may have flown, Pittman said.

What an idea Microraptor like a hawk, is consistent with other fossil evidence. One Microraptor a fossil was found with a bird in its belly, and MicroraptorSome bony and soft tissue anatomy suggest a great flight ability.

There is still more work to be done to figure out how well the dinosaur flew. “Microraptor not wings, but close. “Just because it has feet like a bird of prey doesn’t necessarily mean it has to catch prey the same way,” Pittman said. But Microraptorhe adds the possibility that the hawk is “strong”.

Flight can be useful to Microraptor with hunting, even if he could not fix the flyers today. Dececchi is speculating MicroraptorIts anatomy probably prevented it from flying away from birds, but it was perhaps surprisingly different from reaching prey, including flying and sliding animals.

“You’re only fast or aerobatic enough to catch others in your environment,” Holtz says. “Yes, it is not improbable [Microraptor was] sometimes caught in the air. “

Other paleontologists are more skeptical Microraptor prey in the horn “This would be a bit of a stretch for me to suggest” Microraptor it was following prey in an aerial context,” says Albert Chen, a paleobiologist at the University of Cambridge. The new findings only indicate “what the foot is for.”

Alternative hypotheses, such as a completely or partially terrestrial type of hunting, could also fit the data, says Holtz, but “the feet are determined to be playing on their prey” whether on the ground or in the air.

Now, the image of God MicroraptorThe ecology remains obscure, but as lasers continue to increase image resolution, our understanding of flying dinosaurs may reach new heights.