Parvusaurus

One of the earliest discovered dinosaurs in Ummarnu, Parvusaurus was a genus of small feathered theropod from the Dracian Period. Living in what is now the Millenni provinces of El Rancho, Quagero, as well as in Volandia, and scarcely the subcontinent of Vastallos. The defining features are the small body, bipedal stature, and presumably venomous bite. The closest relative of the Parvusaurus is the Venetodon, which is a more evolved form.
== Biology and ecology ==
The most common species known is Parvusaurus gallus. Being less than a meter long, it could not hunt anything larger than small mammals or insects. The structure of the teeth imply a scavenger diet, with the exception of two small fangs with grooves. This is a major sign of venom, which likely evolved to take down larger animals and turn them into carcasses to scavenge. Parvusaurs likely lived in packs considering how almost no fossils of them were found alone. The discovery site held 19 when fully excavated along with a grown Diablosaurus. It is believed a landslide killed and buried the animals, preventing any scavenging from occurring.
In 945 ACA, HTSAA scientists discovered fossilized feather and soft tissue indentations for Parvusaurus. This conclusively proved they and likely other parvopods had feathers. These may have been used as a primitive gliding, though nothing close to the flight of later, unrelated Archeopteryx. This would only be possible if they could get high in the first. Most paleontologists believe Parvusaurus to be capable of jumping relatively great heights, evidenced by the few muscle indentations found in fossils and structure of leg bones. This ability would make taking down large prey much easier and provide a use for gliding.
Between 167-165mya, volcanic eruptions in the Phagosian Sea caused a minor extinction in the surrounding landmasses. This led to the extinction of larger animals such as Diablosaurus, Ummarnutitan, and Quasor, removing a large supply of carcasses to consume. This most likely made Parvusaurus evolve into Venetodon, losing the jumping in favor of speed and becoming a true predator.
== Etymology ==
The name Parvusaurus was intended to mean "Leaping Lizard". However, due to the at-the-time recent practice of using Ancient Southern Paxian for names, a translation error caused the wrong prefix to be selected and published. The new name meant "Small Lizard". While not technically wrong, the subsequent editing of records and confusion from attempts to correct the error led to two competing versions of Parvusaurus. One is the scientifically accurate, and the other is a tiny scaly version more like Compsognathus. Ultimately, the Parvusaurus genus was kept. The species name gallus means "Chicken", and is named for the superficial resemblance to a chicken many make to the annoyance of scientists. Vastalloensis means "From Vastallos".
Category:Centaris
Category:Huitca federation
Category:HTSAA
Category:Geology
Category:Prehistory
Category:Dinosaur
Category:Biota
Category:Fauna
Category:Extinct
Category:Ummarnu
Category:Traveler's Era