⭐ Bambiraptor – Resumenea

What is a Bambiraptor?

Bambiraptor was a dinosaur that was part of the dromaeosaurid theropod family. It was very similar to the birds we know today, and is thought to have lived 72 million years ago.

It was found in 1995 by Wes Linster, who was a 14-year-old boy. It happened while he was searching for fossils in the vicinity of Montana’s Glacier National Park. It was described in 2000 by David Burnham and a team of collaborators.

Paleontologists say this discovery offers one of the most compelling evolutionary links between dinosaurs and birds. Being a two-legged feathered creature, it shows the close relationship they have.

It looked very similar to birds on an anatomical level. The first specimen was a specimen that was not fully developed. It is believed that it had grown to ¾ of its maximum size.

Based on other bone remains found in the same location, it was actually much larger. In fact, an adult specimen was a small feathered bird, which was warm-blooded and measured 1.2 meters long..

Its arms were not very extensive and ended in a kind of wings, with which it possibly achieved a certain gliding capacity from the trees. Their long legs had feet, which ended in a sickle-shaped claw, with which they caught their prey.

Its brain was about the same size as modern birds have today. It had an enlarged cerebellum and possibly displayed great agility and intelligence compared to other dromaeosaurs.

David Burnham thought that Bambiraptor lived in forests. Life in trees could have resulted from the evolutionary boost offered by larger brains. Burnham also hypothesized that larger brains evolved as a result of hunting, with the goal of being flexible to catch lizards and mammals.

Biologist Phil Senter conducted a test in which he showed that he used his front limbs in more ways than one. He could hold his prey with both arms or use one of these to bring the prey to his mouth.

In the same way, he could bring the tips of the two outer fingers together, similar to how a human being could touch the tip of the middle finger, with the tip of the thumb.

Bambiraptor discovery

The known specimen of Bambiraptor was discovered by Wes Linster in 1993.. He was a young 14-year-old fossil hunter, who found these bones when he was in Glacier National Park in Montana, in the United States.

He found it on a high hill and its discovery gave rise to an excavation in which he would find a very complete skeleton, almost 95%. The fact that he maintained great integrity allowed paleontologist John Ostrom of Yale University to classify him as a jewel.

He had previously reintroduced the theory that dinosaurs evolved into the birds we know today, after he discovered Deninonychus in Wyoming in 1964. The characteristics of the new find would allow scientists to better understand the relationship between birds and dinosaurs.

It was initially thought to be a juvenile specimen of Sauronitholestes. Later, in 1997, it was classified as a velociraptor.

The definitive description came in 2000 from David Burnham, John Ostrom, Kraig Derstler, Phil Currie, Robert Bakker and Zhou Zhonge. This team described it and called it Bambiraptor feinbergi.

This specimen was declared the holotype of the species and was found in the Upper Two Medicine Formation. His remains are exhibited today at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

This is a partial skeleton with joints that is quite complete. It has the skull of a juvenile specimen. While there is some level of wear on its right side, most of its pieces are in good condition. Only part of the tail is missing.

A paratype was identified in 2000 with thirty-four elements, which corresponded to two different individuals. They were close to the holotype skeleton. Four years later he was assigned a jaw bone.

What does Bambiraptor mean?

The name comes from Italian bambini what does it mean child. It was chosen because the specimen was juvenile. The term abductor comes from Latin which means rapacious. The epithet was assigned in honor of Michael and Ann Feinberg, who rescued this fossil and donated it for study. Thus its full meaning is baby or raptor child of the Feinbergs.

The family Saurornitholestinae

Bambiraptor is part of the Saurornitholestinae family. It is a subgroup of the Dromaesauridae theropods. Some of its most notable specimens are the Saurornitholestes langstonihe marshali atrociraptor and the Bambiraptor feinbergi.

Mostly included dromaeosaurs of medium volume that lived during the Upper Cretaceous. Many of them were found in North America. They were initially assigned as a taxon related to Velociraptorinae and Dromaeosaurinae..

The Dromaeosauridae family

The Dromaeosauridae were a group of predators that were between small and medium in size. The cinema popularized them in jurassic park, via Velociraptor. Although in reality these were not that big, nor that intelligent. They would never have turned a doorknob.

What is a fact is that the Dromaeosauridae possessed a pair of retractable sickle-shaped claws on their inner fingers. Specifically in the second, if you count from the inside of the foot to the outside.

These were kept away from the ground to preserve their edge and possibly never touched the ground. Their main weapons were the sharp, cutting claws on their hands. Along with their teeth, they were the ones that damaged the prey the most.

The claws on their feet were possibly used to climb the backs of larger animals, or to fatally strike them in the ribs or abdomen. The curvature is similar to the beaks of birds of prey we know today. Therefore, it is also believed that he used them to remove parts from a corpse.

There are several characteristics that make these creatures fascinating. They are commonly called raptorswhich is a scientific term that is currently used to refer to birds of prey such as falcons or eagles.

Specialists call dinosaurs by the name of their clade Dromaeosauridae either Dromaeosaurids. They are made up of theropod dinosaurs that exhibit some very derived characteristics that are common to all.

One of these is an excellent vision with which they visualized prey in the distance. They ran on their hind legs and their tail served as a dynamic stabilizer. They stood out for their speed and agility.

Their hands exerted a great grip, and made use of a cutting claw developed on the second pedal phalanx, on the toe. They had muscular jaws full of teeth and large brains for their size. They were ultimately fast predators, very lethal and intelligent.

They were possibly the dinosaurs most similar to the birds we know today. Its forelimbs had a very flexible grip ideal for catching prey. This characteristic could have been the antecedent of the ability to fly that birds obtained.

Characteristics of the Bambiraptor

Find out below what the Bambiraptor was like, where it lived and when, among other peculiarities.

Classification

The fundamental description in places it as a Dromaeosauridae. However, some specialists think that it is a synonym for Sauronitholestes. This is due to the stratigraphy of the place where the Bambiraptor would have lived. Although it is not a position that has been defended by specialists.

It has been placed in the cladistic analysis of Saurornitholestes, due to its explainable ontogenetic differences. The fossil we have is young and has never been found with other adult specimens. If we had more specimens this could be resolved more clearly.

Description

The only fairly complete specimen for which a description has been made was a juvenile individual. Although adult fossils were found, they were not enough for an exhaustive analysis.

Therefore, the holotype has a length of 90 centimeters to 1 meter and its body volume did not exceed two kilos.. He possessed long hind legs, suggesting that he could display great speed when running.

It had a relatively large brain cavity, which surely allowed it to think and act agilely compared to other dromaeosaurids.

Some think that this cavity is due to the fact that most animals have a larger brain proportion when they are juveniles.

This conception of intelligence has currently lost validity and only the size of the brain is considered in relation to the EQ, which is the encephalization coefficient.

This does not take into account brain tissue, which would consider that a specimen with a brain twice as long would have twice its intelligence.

It is also observed that the dinosaur with a small brain may have great cognitive capacity in relation to memory and problem solving.

It is thought that Bambiraptor had feathers, although they were not found among its fossil remains. Paleontologists believe that they had the function of insulating it against the cold.

It had claws on its legs and hands, with which it manipulated objects, thanks to fingers that could flex.

Added to this is the fact that their arms could have been used to climb trees, which promoted theories in which they could have lived in trees, as birds do today.

Behavior

It was an elusive and fast dinosaur, which survived by fleeing from danger and staying away from trouble. In any case, it had to be safe from other dinosaurs such as Troodon and Saurornitholestes, who could prey on it.

As is logical to assume, it was also in danger from the Daspletosaurus and the Gorgosaurus. That is why their most effective weapons were stalking in the face of danger and speed.

Some paleontologists consider that they could have lived in small groups, although this has not yet been established exactly.

Had they had an arboreal lifestyle, this would have been consistent with a greater ability to survive. It would have been a more effective way to stay safe.

Where and when did he live

Fossil dating places Bambiraptor 72 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous Period. He lived in what is now known as North America in the Montana National Park. But it is thought that its distribution was broader, covering all of North America.

It was an area with great volcanic activity with a flora composed of conifers, horsetails and ferns. The climate was seasonal, rainy and semi-arid, with dry periods during times of high temperatures.

Feeding

It was a fast carnivore that hunted small mammals and…