Name:
Buitreraptor.
Phonetic: Bwee-tree-trap-tor.
Named By: Peter J. Makovicky, Sebastian
Apestegu�a & Frederico L. Agnol�n - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae, Unenlagiinae.
Species: B. gonzalezorum
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: About 1.5 meters long.
Known locations: Argentina, Patagonia -
Candeleros Formation.
Time period: Cenomanian to Turonian of the
Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Based upon a skull and
partial skeleton. At least two further individuals exist.
Buitreraptor
was small, even for a dromaeosaurid
dinosaur. Buitreraptor
however
is markedly different to most other currently known dromaeosaurid
genera, especially by its skull. The jaws of Buitreraptor
are long
and slender, both advantages that could theoretically help in seizing
prey like small lizards and mammals that might be hiding amongst
rocks. The teeth, while small, recurve around so that the tips
angle towards the back of the mouth, meaning that they would act like
hooks to prevent prey wriggling off and moving forward out of the
jaws. The serrations of the teeth also would have allowed for easy
cutting into the flesh of soft bodied prey like the aforementioned
lizards and mammals. Interestingly the sickle claw, usually so well
developed in dromaeosaurids, is actually quite short and thick. It
may be that while the sickle claw was likely a killing weapon in other
genera, Buitreraptor simply used it to pin the
bodies of small prey
to the ground while it pulled off pieces with its mouth.
Like
with its relatives, Buitreraptor is expected to
have had a covering
of feathers over its body, either completely or in certain parts like
the arms and tail. Although no feathers have been found to
conclusively prove that Buitreraptor had them,
this lack of evidence
has been factored down to lack of preservation, especially as remains
have so far never been found to be one hundred percent complete
anyway. The expectation for feathers in Buitreraptor
arises from the
observation from the discoveries of very well preserved dromaeosaurid
individuals which have either been preserved with the feathers or the
attachment points for them.
Although
a predator itself, the small size of Buitreraptor
meant that
individuals of the genus were themselves likely prey for larger and
more powerful predators. Two possible examples of these predators
include Mapusaurus
and Giganotosaurus,
large carcharodontosaurids
that were roaming around South America at roughly the same time as
Buitreraptor.
Further reading
- The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America, Peter J.
Makovicky, Sebastian Apestegu�a & Frederico L. Agnol�n
- 2005.
- The unusual dentiton of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum
(Theropoda:
Dromaeosauridae), from Patagonia, Argentina: new insights on
the unenlagine teeth, F. A. Gianechini, S. Apestegu�a
& P. J. Makovicky - 2009.
- Postcranial osteology of a new specimen of Buitreraptor
gonzalezorum
(Theropoda, Unenlagiidae). - Cretaceous Research. 83: 127–167. -
Fernando E. Novas, Federico Briss�n Egli, Federico L. Agnolin, Federico
A. Gianechini & Ignacio Cerda - 2018.
- Tail anatomy of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum
(Theropoda, Unenlagiidae)
and comparisons with other basal paravians. - Cretaceous Research. 83:
168–181. - Mat�as J. Motta, Federico Egli Briss�n, Fernando E. Novas -
2018.
- Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens
of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky, Apestegu�a
and Agnol�n 2005
(Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. -
PeerJ. 6: e4558 - F. A. Gianechini, P. J. Makovicky, S. Apesyegu�a
& I Cerda - 2018.