JP, 'raptors, and ornithomimids

[Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)]

>> Actually, he uses the species name V. antirrhopus in the book (I'll have to
>> look up the page number).  The true species (and type species) of
>> Velociraptor is V. mongoliensis (antirrhopus is the trivial name of
>> Deinonychus).
>
>Gregory Paul lists both V. mongoliensis and V. antirrhopus in Predatory
>Dinosaurs of the World.  Neither is large enough to have passed for the
>'raptor in JP; they are fairly similar in size and skeletal appearance,
>except for some differences in cranial geometry.  (I don't have the
>book with me, but I think V. mongoliensis has a longer, more gracile
>head.)  I don't recall that Paul mentions the name Deinonychus in
>connection with either Velociraptor, but this may be faulty synapses.

Not faulty synapses - just information that most people can (justifiably)
file away in the "not to be used ever again" folder.  Greg explains in PDW, in
the section on Dromaeosaurids, his rational for sinking Deinonychus antirrhopus
Ostrom 1969 into Velociraptor Osborn 1924. They are not similar in size:
Greg's comparison of V'raptor to a jackel/coyote and Deinonychus to a wolf
gives a very good idea of there size.  Put another way, you put the whole type
skull of Velociraptor mongoliensis in your hand (but DON'T let the
collection's staff see you do that :-)), but Deinonychus' skull is about twice
the length of a hand.

In any case, both Deinonychus and Velociraptor belong to the
Velociraptorinae (the gracile dromaeosaurids), while Utahraptor is more
distantly related, being a dromaeosaurine dromaeosaurid (which are generally
more robust).  Utahraptor is from the early Early Cretaceous, Deinonychus is
from the late Early Cretaceous, and Velociraptor from the late Late
Cretaceous.
>
>One of the reasons Spielberg upped the size was the lack of scare
>quotient in an actual-sized Velociraptor - another was that with the
>beast as big as he made it he could use a live human inside, allowing
>for a full view of an actual working 'raptor instead of only partial
>views as with the Dilophosaurus and Brachiosaurus head puppets, or
>computer-generated animations as with the Brachiosaurs or the running
>T. rex and gallimimids.
>

One passing (maybe funny, to some people) note:  as one of teh few people on
the planet working on ornithomimid systematics, I found it very funny that
Frant and the kid (whose name escapes me at the moment) could recognize
_Gallimimus_ from a distance.  The main characters which separate the
ostrich-dinosaurs involve the  hands (and a few minor details of the skull,
pelvis, and maybe limb-proportions).  The main way to distinguish Gallimimus
from (say) Struthiomimus is that it is a) bigger (about one-and-a-half the
size as shown in the movie) and b) Asian.

>>>>>>  Hic sententiae mihi solo sunt, non Conlegioni Armorum Digitalum.  <<<<<
>Digital Equipment Corporation           DEC Easynet: VORTEX::CALIPH::BINDER 
..!decvax.dec.com!binder >

Thomas R. HOLTZ
Vertebrate Paleontologist, Dept. of Geology
Email:Thomas_R_HOLTZ@umail.umd.edu (th81)
Phone:301-405-4084