Carnivore fills a gap in the dinosaur fossil record

摘要

A wolf-sized warrior, kin to the fierce and feathered Velociraptor, prowled what is now New Mexico about 68 million years ago. Dineobellator notohesperus was a dromaeosaur, part of a group of swift and agile predators that are distantly related to Tyrannosaurus rex. The discovery of this new species (skeleton illustrated below) suggests dromaeosaurs were diversifying, and becoming better at pursuing prey, right up to the end of the age of dinosaurs, researchers report March 26 in Scientific Reports.