#tachiraptor

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Tachiraptor

Tachiraptor — рід хижих динозаврів-тероподів, знайдений на початку юрського періоду у формації Ла-Кінта на території Венесуели. Включає один вид, Tachiraptor admirabilis, описаний за скам’янілими гомілковою та сідничною кістками. Це були невеликі двоногі динозаври, з обчисленою загальною довжиною тіла трохи більше 1,5 м. Вони, ймовірно, були універсальними хижаками, що полювали на дрібних хребетних, таких як інші…

Повний текст на сайті "Вимерлий світ":

Source: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2014/10/new-meat-eating-dinosaur-lived-wake-mass-extinction

Group: Neotheropoda

Classification: Cellular Life, Archaea, Proteoarchaeota, Eukaryota, Unikota, Opisthokonta, Holozoa, Filozoa, Metazoa, Eumetazoa, Planulozoa, Bilatera, Nephrozoa, Deuterostomia, Chordata, Craniata, Vertebrata, Gnathostomata, Eugnathostomata, Teleostomi, Euteleostomi, Sarcopterygii, Rhipidistia, Tetrapodomorpha, Eotetrapodiforms, Elpistostegalia, Stegocephalia, Tetrapoda, Reptiliomorpha, Anthracosauria, Batrachosauria, Cotylosauria, Amniota, Sauropsida, Eureptilia, Romeriida, Diapsida, Neodiapsida, Sauria, Archosauromorpha, Archelosauria, Archosauriformes, Crurotarsi, Archosauria, Avemetatarsalia, Ornithodira, Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda 

Definition: The group including the most recent common ancestor of Ceolophysis and modern birds, and all of that animal’s descendants 

Organisms Within: Zupaysaurus, Tachiraptor, Dilophosauridae (not examined here), Coelophysoidea (not examined here), Averostra (not examined here), & two miscellaneous genera without further placement. 

Time Range: Shown below, numbers on the left in millions of years. Though the only basal Neotheropods known are from the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, members of other groups are present much earlier than that, about 220 million years ago, implying that they must have evolved at around that time or older.  

Characteristics: 

Neotheropods differ from basal theropods mainly on a few skeletal points. The ilium bone in the pelvis, expanded towards the top of the animal (dorsally).  The snout is more narrow than in basal theropods, there are more vertebrae fused to the hips, there is a complete loss of the fifth digit of the foot (as shown below), and a general stiffening of the legs overall. 

By @ewilloughby

Like all early dinosaurs, Neotheropods were probably covered in a layer of primitive feathers - though some theropods groups would later lose feathers, the general line leading up to birds must have kept them, given that birds have feathers. They were bipedal, fast predators, and basal members of Neotheropoda were probably outcompeted by later animals, and even during their existence Coelophysoids were far more common. 

Source: @alphynix

Fossil Locations: It is fairly likely that Neotheropods also originated in Argentina, during that very rapid early diversification of dinosaurs in the region. This assessment is based mainly on the presence of basal theropods mainly in the region, though its possible that it also occurred in North America, where many Coelophysoids lived. Coelophysoids have also been found in Europe and Asia, and so given this widespread range of this group and its early evolution, as well as the locations of basal theropods, its reasonable to suppose that Argentina is where they started, unless evidence to the contrary comes to light.

Biogeography: Neotheropods spread throughout the globe, as described above; this was relatively easy due to Panagaea, however, most Coelophysoids congregated around North America and Europe. The two basal members of the group stayed in South America. Maps from Dr. Christopher Scotese. 

Read more about Zupaysaurus here!

Read more about Tachiraptor here! 

Read more about Coelophysoidea here!

Posts on Dilophosauridae and Averostra to come soon!

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neotheropoda

http://palaeos.com/vertebrates/theropoda/neotheropoda.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zupaysaurus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachiraptor

Shout out goes to @chequitablr!

Miscellaneous Neotheropods not examined here that do not have further placement (links added as I do posts on them): 

Altispinax

Source: http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/science-tachiraptor-admirabilis-carnivorous-dinosaur-venezuela-02196.html

Name: Tachiraptor admirabilis

Name Meaning: Admirable Campaign Thief of Táchira 

First Described: 2014

Described By: Rauhut

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda

Tachiraptor was another early theropod discovered last year, found in the La Quinta Formation in Venezuela. It is known from part of the leg and pelvis, and lived in the Hettangian age of the Early Jurassic, about 200.72 million years ago. It was a smaller predator, with an estimated body length of only 1.5 meters. It was likely a generalist, preying on smaller vertebrates, and had a decent ability to run fast, with long strides. It is the first known stem-averostran (meaning, just outside of the Averostra group) known, thus helping to reduce the ghost lineage of that group. It also confirms that the equator of Pangea was an important area for early dinosaurian development. 

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachiraptor

В Венесуэле обнаружены окаменелые останки ранее неизвестного вида динозавров, сообщает портал «Хаффингтон пост». По мнению палеонтологов, при жизни тачираптор (Tachiraptor admirabilis), получивший прозвище «тачирский вор», отличался небольшими габаритами и буйным нравом.

© Jaroslav Moravcik | Shutterstock.com

«По всей видимости, тачираптор охотился за любыми животными, котрые были меньше его по размеру», — говорит соавтор исследования Макс Лэнгер из Университета Сан-Паулу.

Международная команда исследователей извлекла из-под земли две окаменелые ножные кости в Андах рядом с западной границы Венесуэлы. Останки указывают на то, что длина первого плотоядного динозавра, обнаруженного в стране, составляла от 1,5 до 2 метров от носа до кончика хвоста. Древний ящер жил около 201 миллиона лет назад во времена раннего юрского периода на доисторическом сверхконтиненте Пангее.

«Тогда Пангея находилась в процессе разделения на части, — рассказывает Лэнгер. — Повсюду наблюдалась повышенная вулканическая активность, а в долине была извилистая река, в лесах вдоль которой и обитали эти динозавры».

Исследователи считают, что тачираптор был предком более крупных динозавров, таких как тираннозавр рекс, который жил в конце юрского периода. Открытие нового вида мокт пролить свет на эволюцию динозавров во временной промежуток после массового вымирания видов в конце триасового периода.