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New Utahraptor skeletal published; my heart has been waiting for this
Topic Started: Apr 3 2017, 12:01 PM (1,395 Views)
magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

http://www.skeletaldrawing.com/home/at-long-last-utahraptor

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We've already discussed this some, but there it is. I knew Utahraptor was stocky, but this body plan barely looks dromaeosaurine.
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Furka
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It's surprising how small the sickle claws look on this thing. Just compare it to other Dromaeosaurs:

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(Deinonychus and Velociraptor skeletals by Hartman).

It kinda looks like it favoured using its jaws to dispatch prey.
And that tail ...
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babehunter1324
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I wonder if the reason for the disparity in proportional size and shape of Dromeosaurid pedal claws might be comparable to the "pincer-to-sting ratio" in scorpions.

The relativelly robust, big headed, low slunged Utahraptor had a small pedal claw while the gracile, fleet footed Dakotaraptor had a massive pedal claw. It would suggest that they hunted different prey and in different ways.
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DinoBear
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Of note, though, is how massively built its legs are.
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BossMan, Jake
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Son of God

Seems more like an animal built for power and strength designed to use its mass to over power prey much larger then it. Perhaps this was like really big cat in terms of how it killed/attacked
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Incinerox
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Āeksiot Zaldrīzoti

All this talk makes Utahraptor's claws seem small...

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What's notable about the claws are that they aren't as curved as in Dakotaraptor, which, despite being far lighter, had claws the same size thereabouts. Utah left, Dakota right:

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BUT THE TAIL ISN'T STIFFENED. WHY IS IT NOT STIFFENED. THIS IS BACKWARDS.
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

Like other people have said, it seems pretty clear that Utah had different hunting strategy, and different quarry. Considering the size of the family, this comes as no surprise to me. Some things that I am curious about are the head and jaw strength, and the use of the arms. The legs seem to me to be sprinter legs. As for the tail, I really have no clue.
If I had to take a wild guess, I would peg Utah as a solo ambush hunter. There's just so much to consider. Habitat, local prey species, as well as the selection for certain traits such as size and the weird tail. I bet it's only a matter of time until someone comes along and theorizes that Utah was primarily a kleptoparasite.
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Posted Image Flish
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Utahraptor is honestly pretty much what I expected, minus the lack of ossified tendons on the tail. It's a Dromaeosaurine, it's not hunting with its feet, it's not going to have super large toe claws. Its massive head also makes sense considering Dromaeosaurines were designed for crushing prey.
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Incinerox
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Except for the fact that dromaeosaurines are much lighter and leggier. Better runners.

See: Dakotaraptor.
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Fireplume
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Snok Snok Snerson

Incinerox
Apr 3 2017, 03:40 PM
BUT THE TAIL ISN'T STIFFENED. WHY IS IT NOT STIFFENED. THIS IS BACKWARDS.
This is the part that I had to step back and be like "O.o"
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stargatedalek
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I'm not slow! That's just my moe!

Someone on the DTF suggested they may have nested in burrows, hence the flexible and short tail. I think there are probably other more likely explanations, but it's hardly impossible.
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

We do get animals as large as polar bears today which spend at least some time in burrows. I imagine that other relatives would have evidence for similar behavior, though.
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stargatedalek
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I'm not slow! That's just my moe!

magpiealamode
Apr 5 2017, 12:30 PM
We do get animals as large as polar bears today which spend at least some time in burrows. I imagine that other relatives would have evidence for similar behavior, though.
I was looking more at bird analogues. The proportions (especially the legs) definitely aren't a far cry from auks so I imagine they could have dug in a similar way.

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Posted Image Flish
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Incinerox
Apr 5 2017, 08:26 AM
Except for the fact that dromaeosaurines are much lighter and leggier. Better runners.

See: Dakotaraptor.
Dakotaraptor is the exception, not the norm. That's pretty obvious from the massive toe claws, even without looking at other Dromaeosaurines, but if you insist, see: Achillobator, Utahraptor, Deinonychus (Deinonychus is albeit much less pronounced in its short legedness, but it's also a rather primitive Dromaeosaur in general)
Edited by Flish, Apr 5 2017, 02:53 PM.
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Incinerox
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Āeksiot Zaldrīzoti

stargatedalek
Apr 5 2017, 01:58 PM
magpiealamode
Apr 5 2017, 12:30 PM
We do get animals as large as polar bears today which spend at least some time in burrows. I imagine that other relatives would have evidence for similar behavior, though.
I was looking more at bird analogues. The proportions (especially the legs) definitely aren't a far cry from auks so I imagine they could have dug in a similar way.


Other than literally everything about limb proportions, foot shape and limb placement, then yeah. Auks. Sure.

Flish
Apr 5 2017, 02:42 PM
Dakotaraptor is the exception, not the norm. That's pretty obvious from the massive toe claws, even without looking at other Dromaeosaurines, but if you insist, see: Achillobator, Utahraptor, Deinonychus (Deinonychus is albeit much less pronounced in its short legedness, but it's also a rather primitive Dromaeosaur in general).


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Dromaeosaurus is also a leggy one. Not as large, I know, but it sharing the same build as a much larger Dakotaraptor do indicate that being being chunky isn't the norm. It's two for two. Any other dromaeosaurine is too fragmentary to tell. And like you said, Deinonychus is too primitive and middle-ground to settle disputes. It's still entirely possible that it sits outside dromaeosaurinae near the split between them and velociraptorinae.

I do sometimes wonder if dromaeosaurinae could be split further into leggy dromaeosaurini and beefy utahraptorini. There are two very distinct things going on in one clade we don't see in the others.

stargatedalek
Apr 5 2017, 12:04 PM
Someone on the DTF suggested they may have nested in burrows, hence the flexible and short tail. I think there are probably other more likely explanations, but it's hardly impossible.


While burrowing is an interesting hypothesis for Utahraptor, we simply don't see the adaptations for it elsewhere. It's entirely possible it hijacked the burrows of other animals, and it's a great way to escape the scorching heat of Yellow Cat at the time, so I'm by no means ruling it out as a thing Utahraptor did. But dromaeosaur tails were only really stiffened vertically, and were quite bendy from side to side. Why vertical bendiness changes anything for burrowing, I dunno.
Edited by Incinerox, Apr 6 2017, 05:15 AM.
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