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Recently , Natovenator polydontus was seen in the news.
About Natovenator polydontus,
- It is part of the dinosaur group called theropods – sharing traits including bipedalism – best known for large meat-eaters including Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, and Giganotosaurus.
- It lived about 72 million years ago during the Cretaceous Period and was built like a diving bird with a streamlined body while possessing a goose-like elongated neck and a long flattened snout with a mouth bearing more than 100 small teeth.
- Characteristics: It measured about 18 inches (45 cm) long, with a skull about 3 inches (7 cm) long.
- Its front limbs appeared somewhat flattened, perhaps as an adaptation for paddling and swimming.
- The streamlining of its body is shown by ribs that point toward the tail, as in diving birds, an arrangement that reduces drag in the water and allows efficient swimming.
- Its front limbs appeared somewhat flattened, perhaps as an adaptation for paddling and swimming.
- “Natovenator – which means ‘swimming thief’ – is an amazing little animal for several reasons.
- It is small and delicate. It looked more like a lizard or mammal skeleton than a dinosaur.
- It is very specialized for living in an environment not typical for an animal related to Velociraptor and its other relatives.
- It was adapted to a semi-aquatic lifestyle in a freshwater ecosystem, perhaps floating on rivers and lakes, paddling with its front limbs, and using its flexible neck to catch fish and insects or diving underwater to capture its prey
- it was a cousin of the speedy little predator Velociraptor.
- A close relative of Natovenator named Halszkaraptor, described in 2017, lived a similar lifestyle at roughly the same time in the same region.
- Both had a very bird-like appearance and were closely related to the bird lineage.
- Its well-preserved remains – a skeleton about 70% complete – were unearthed in the Gobi Desert, which over the decades has been a treasure trove for dinosaur fossils.
Source:IE
