#maniraptorans

Silvereye/tauhou/Zosterops lateralis

Doing an art challenge for bird of the year 2025. Prompt list is by a mutual on cara.

An experimental drawing of the gigantic unenlagian Austroraptor cabazai from the Late Cretaceous of Argentina. The partial skull and skeletal fragments of this maniraptoran were found in 2002 in the Allen Formation. In 2012, a second, slightly smaller specimen was added to the collection, containing previously unknown bones. Austroraptor had a very long snout and a slender lower jaw; the complete skull is estimated to be 80 cm long. The teeth are small and unserrated, similar to those of fish-eating crocodiles and advanced spinosaurids. The humerus is short, resulting in a small wing. The legs are long and narrow. Austroraptor reached a length of 5-6 meters. It may have filled the niche of large aquatic vertebrate hunters, previously occupied by spinosaurids. The shortened wings indicate that Austroraptor used them little and captured prey primarily with its elongated jaws. Its neighbors were hadrosaurs and various titanosaurs, as well as medium-sized abelisaurids.

Urvogel