Re: Velociraptor scavenged azhdarchid pterosaur

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

I've read the paper, and the authors argue that if the velociraptor had brought 
down such a large prey, it would have eaten flesh rather than bone, and suggest 
that little flesh was present by the time the dinosaur got there. 

- Jeff Hecht
On Mar 3, 2012, at 8:18 PM, Mickey Mortimer wrote:

> 
> Scavenging's certainly possible, but since the closely related Deinonychus is 
> generally accepted as predating Tenontosaurus (which is about as heavy 
> compared to Deinonychus as Quetzelcoatlus is compared to Velociraptor), I 
> don't see how we can favor one hypothesis over another.  Sure I'm assuming 
> that the Velociraptor was found singly, but if Roach and Brinkman (2007) are 
> correct that Deinonychus did not live in packs but merely aggregated to kill, 
> then a lone dromaeosaurid with parts of a large animal in its belly is just 
> what we'd expect.
> 
> Mickey Mortimer
> 
> ----------------------------------------
>> From: MHabib@Chatham.edu
>> To: mickey_mortimer111@msn.com
>> CC: dinosaur@usc.edu
>> Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 19:36:28 -0500
>> Subject: Re: Velociraptor scavenged azhdarchid pterosaur
>> 
>> It is. I've seen David Hone's presentation on this study a few times now, 
>> and it was quite a big azhdarch that the velociraptor was chewing on. Highly 
>> unlikely it predated something like that.
>> 
>> --Mike H
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>> On Mar 3, 2012, at 7:15 PM, "Mickey Mortimer" <mickey_mortimer111@msn.com> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Hopefully the evidence the azdarchid was scavenged is better than the 
>>> evidence the enantiornithine Microraptor ate (O'Connor et al., 2011) was 
>>> predated.
>>> 
>>> Mickey Mortimer
>>> 
>>> ----------------------------------------
>>>> Date: Sat, 3 Mar 2012 12:03:05 -0800
>>>> From: bcreisler@gmail.com
>>>> To: dinosaur@usc.edu
>>>> Subject: Velociraptor scavenged azhdarchid pterosaur
>>>> 
>>>> From: Ben Creisler
>>>> bcreisler@gmail.com
>>>> 
>>>> A new online paper:
>>>> 
>>>> David Hone, Takanobu Tsuihiji, Mahito Watabe, Khishigjaw Tsogtbaatr (2012)
>>>> Pterosaurs as a food source for small dromaeosaurs.
>>>> Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology (advance online 
>>>> publication)
>>>> http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.02.021
>>>> http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031018212000946?v=s5
>>>> 
>>>> Stomach contents preserved in fossil specimens provide direct evidence
>>>> for the diet of extinct animals. Such exceptional fossils remain rare
>>>> for predatory non-avian dinosaurs and each can add significantly to
>>>> our understanding of trophic interactions between various taxa. Here
>>>> we present evidence for the dromaeosaurid theropod Velociraptor
>>>> scavenging on the carcass of an azhdarchid pterosaur, with a long bone
>>>> of the pterosaur being found as gut contents of the dinosaur. Despite
>>>> previous inferences of dromaeosaurs as hyper-predators, scavenging
>>>> appears to have been an important part of their ecology.
>>> 
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