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A small international team of biologists, geologists and paleontologists has found evidence that a bird-sized dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period used its wings to run faster.
In research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers analyzed the footprints and the creatures that left them and reported evidence of wings aiding running.
Dinosaurs sometimes left footprints when walking in mud. In some cases, these traces become fossilized and survive into modern times, known as traces.
What puzzled paleontologists was the animal’s large steps, the unknown raptor’s footprints had larger gaps between them than expected for such a small dinosaur.
“This guy is tiny, one of the smallest dinosaurs for which we have fossils. “These tracks are a puzzle because their footprints are very small but far apart,” said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas R. Holtz Jr. and co-author of the study, quoted from interestingengineering.
This led researchers to conclude that bird-sized dinosaurs from the early Cretaceous period used their wings to run faster than fly.
Reporting from interestingengineering, the research team focused their efforts on traces found at excavation sites in the Jinju Formation, in the southeastern part of South Korea. The tracks attract attention because the distance between the tracks is quite large compared to their size, from 25 to 31 centimeters.
Because the trail suddenly stopped, it was unclear whether the creature was ascending, descending, or using wingbeats to propel itself along the ground.
This movement, called “flap running,” is a unique movement between running and flying.
Testing of the tracks shows they were made about 106 million years ago and the dinosaur that made them was likely a bird-sized dinosaur known as Dromaeosauriformipes rarus.
In evaluating measurements of the distance between the tracks and the size of the muscles in its legs, the researchers found that the small dinosaur could not run fast enough for its footsteps to travel such long distances without assistance, most likely from wings. They estimate the dinosaur was running at a speed of 38 km/h when the tracks were made.
This finding strengthens the theory that the emergence of the ability to fly was not linear, that many creatures developed this ability independently. If it could be proven that D. rarus could fly, it would prove that feathered dinosaurs other than the bird lineage could fly.
The researchers think it is also possible that D. rarus was the forerunner to the flight ability of non-avian dinosaurs.
The study of tracks has helped scientists learn more about how ancient creatures walked or ran. (Science/Z-3)
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**Interview with Thomas R. Holtz Jr., Paleontologist at the University of Maryland**
**Editor:** Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Holtz. Your recent research on the dinosaur Dromaeosauriformipes rarus is fascinating. Can you start by explaining what initially sparked your interest in this creature?
**Thomas Holtz:** Thank you for having me! What drew us in was the unique footprint patterns we found during our excavations in the Jinju Formation. The discovery of such small dinosaur tracks with an unusually large gap between them posed a real puzzle for us. This anomaly suggested there was something special about how this dinosaur moved.
**Editor:** The idea that this dinosaur used its wings to enhance running speed is quite surprising. Can you elaborate on how you came to this conclusion?
**Thomas Holtz:** Certainly! In analyzing the footprints, we noticed that they were not just small but also spaced much further apart than expected for a creature of that size. Through careful examination, we hypothesized that instead of primarily using its wings for flight, Dromaeosauriformipes rarus might have utilized them to stabilize and propel itself while running. The wings could have helped create a more dynamic locomotion, allowing it to sprint faster over short distances.
**Editor:** That’s intriguing! How does this discovery change our understanding of small dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period?
**Thomas Holtz:** This research challenges the way we typically think about these smaller dinosaurs. It suggests that they may have had more diverse methods of movement than we previously recognized. Instead of being solely adapted for flight, they likely had unique adaptations that allowed them to thrive both on the ground and in the air. It adds another layer to the behavioral and physiological complexities of early dinosaurs.
**Editor:** What challenges did your team face during this research?
**Thomas Holtz:** One of the major challenges was the preservation of the footprints. Fossilization is a rare process, and sometimes the traces we want to analyze can be degraded over time. Ensuring we collected and preserved these footprints properly was essential for our study. Additionally, working with an international team meant navigating different scientific perspectives, which can be both a challenge and a benefit.
**Editor:** what do you hope future research will reveal about dinosaur locomotion or behaviors?
**Thomas Holtz:** I hope this research opens the door for more studies on the biomechanics of dinosaurs. There’s so much we don’t understand about how they moved and interacted with their environment. Future investigations could uncover more species like Dromaeosauriformipes rarus and help clarify how features such as wings were utilized in ways we haven’t imagined yet.
**Editor:** Thank you, Dr. Holtz, for sharing your insights. This research significantly enriches our understanding of dinosaur evolution and behavior. We look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
**Thomas Holtz:** Thank you! I appreciate the opportunity to discuss our findings.
Have had a more complex relationship with their wings than previously understood. Instead of simply being primitive flyers or non-flying creatures, small dinosaurs like Dromaeosauriformipes rarus might have employed their wings in various ways for enhanced mobility, possibly serving both running and flying functions. This blurs the lines of how we categorize these animals and suggests a non-linear evolution of flight capabilities in dinosaurs.
**Editor:** Fascinating! What implications does this have for our understanding of the evolution of flight in dinosaurs?
**Thomas Holtz:** It changes the narrative significantly. It indicates that the ability to run faster using wings might have been an evolutionary stepping stone to flight. By illustrating that creatures like D. rarus could utilize their wings for more than just flying, we might be looking at a model where multiple lineages of dinosaurs developed flight abilities independently—showing a diverse evolutionary landscape. This could redefine our understanding of how flight evolved among various dinosaur species beyond the typical bird lineage.
**Editor:** What do you hope future research will reveal about Dromaeosauriformipes rarus and others like it?
**Thomas Holtz:** We’re excited about further excavations and studies that could uncover more fossil evidence, possibly revealing additional species with similar adaptations. Understanding how dinosaurs like D. rarus interacted with their environment, whether they used glide or flap running, and how these adaptations contributed to their survival is crucial. Ultimately, we hope to provide a clearer picture of the ecological roles these small dinosaurs played during the Cretaceous period.
**Editor:** Thank you, Dr. Holtz, for sharing these exciting insights. It sounds like we have much more to learn about these remarkable creatures!
**Thomas Holtz:** My pleasure! I look forward to what future discoveries will unveil.