The Velociraptor from “Jurassic Park” was a terrifyingly large and merciless killing machine.
Yes, it’s a nightmare. Is it real? There aren’t that many.
Scientific studies have long believed that the real Velociraptor was very different from the beast depicted in the film series, growing to a size not much different from that of a wolf and being covered in less frightening feathers.
However, a team of paleontologists said they may have identified a close relative of Velociraptor, the so-called Megaraptor, which is much closer in size to the dinosaur depicted in the movie. In fact, an international team of researchers estimated that the fossilized footprints discovered in China were left by a dinosaur, which may be one of the largest raptors ever discovered.
Researcher Anthony Romilio said that while the animal may look smaller than the raptor from “Jurassic Park,” there are some key differences from the fictional bird of prey.
“When people think of raptor dinosaurs, they probably think of the muscular, human-sized, aggressive hunters from the Jurassic Park movies,” University of Queensland paleontologist Romilio said in a statement. Stated. “But these footprints were left by a slimmer, smarter group of velociraptorids.”
Preserved footprints discovered in China in 2020
Researchers say the footprints are among more than 240 found in 2020 in areas of southeastern China where dinosaurs roamed tens of millions of years ago.
Researchers found five footprints over 13 inches long. The footprints were immediately recognizable because they had only two fingers, a characteristic characteristic of birds of prey.
“We found this type of truck to be unique in shape and very unique,” Romilio said.
The researchers determined that the footprints were likely made by a relative of the velociraptor, and named it Fujianipus yingliangi, after the Fujian province where the footprints were discovered.
Based on the size of the footprints, the creature was estimated to have been about 6 feet tall and 15 feet long. This is about two to three times the total length of Velociraptor, making it one of the largest known raptors.
Megaraptor roamed in the Cretaceous period
Finding fossilized bones could give researchers more insight into what exactly the animal looked like and how impressive it was.
But the researchers said they had gathered enough information to determine that Megaraptor was a member of the troodontid family, a member of the dinosaur family with nearly six-foot legs, far exceeding the size of other known raptors. . Bird-like raptors existed during the Cretaceous period, about 145 million to 66 million years ago, several million years earlier than the Jurassic period.
Because of its size, Fujianips is a relative outlier among similar raptors that have mostly remained small.
“This shows an incredible size range among raptor dinosaurs and highlights their adaptability and ecological diversity,” Romilio said. .
The study is published in the journal iScience.
Eric Lagatta covers the latest and trending news for USA TODAY. Please contact elagatta@gannett.com.
