Predatory penguin-like dinosaur lived in Mongolia 70 million years ago
>
Is it a bird? No, it’s a swimming dinosaur! Predatory penguin-like creature that was more suited to water than land lived in Mongolia 70 million years ago
- Natovenator polydontus lived in what is now Mongolia some 70 million years ago
- The predatory dinosaur once swam through the water like a penguin, study finds
- It was as big as a chicken and had flipper-like arms similar to wings of a penguin
- Dinosaur would have been covered in feathers, but is not thought to have flown
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A penguin-like predatory dinosaur lived in what is now Mongolia about 70 million years ago, a newly discovered fossil has revealed.
Natovenator polydontus — which means ‘swimming hunter with many teeth’ — was about as big as a chicken, had a long swan-like neck and flipper-type arms similar to the wings of a penguin.
However, despite also being covered in feathers it is not thought to have flown.
The newly described dinosaur is a member of the dromaeosauridae family, which also includes the carnivore velociraptor.
Penguin-like: Natovenator polydontus — which means ‘swimming hunter with many teeth’ — was about as big as a chicken, had a long swan-like neck and flipper-type arms similar to the wings of a penguin
Its remains were uncovered in Omnogovi Province in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia in 2008 and examined by researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea.
They included a skull, spinal column, ribs, one forelimb and part of two back legs.
‘The rib orientation and shape clearly indicate that this animal had a streamlined body, as penguins do,’ said study author Yuong-Nam Lee.
The researchers think Natovenator polydontus used its unusually large number of teeth and diving capabilities to catch small fish.
They also found that Natovenator polydontus is genetically closely related to halszkaraptor, a genus of small non-avian dinosaurs with only one known species.
Since that turkey-sized halszkaraptor skeleton was found in Mongolia and reported in 2017, scientists had debated whether there were dinosaurs that were semi-aquatic and resembled modern waterfowl.
However, its skeleton was incomplete.
Now, the similarities between the two provide further evidence that the Halszkaraptor was in fact adapted for life on the water.
The newly described dinosaur is a member of the dromaeosauridae family, which also includes the carnivore velociraptor
Its remains were uncovered in Omnogovi Province in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia in 2008 and examined by researchers from Seoul National University in South Korea. They included a skull, spinal column, ribs, one forelimb and part of two back legs
The researchers said that their latest discovery provides ‘the first compelling evidence of a streamlined body’ suitable for swimming in a therapod dinosaur.
Professor Steve Brusatte, of the University of Edinburgh, agreed that is showed some dinosaurs were likely happier in the water than first thought.
‘Dinosaurs were astoundingly diverse. During their 150 million years of evolution, they blossomed into many species of such astounding variety — from giants bigger than jet planes to sprinters, to diggers, to feathery ones that could glide and fly,’ he told the Times.
‘But there is one thing that dinosaurs seemingly never did, which is go fully into the water and turn into streamlined swimmers like whales or dolphins. The new discovery of natovenator challenges this.’
The study has been published in the journal Communications Biology.