Halszkaraptor

Halszkaraptor as a speculative aquatic dinosaur that feeds on fish. Credit: Joschua Knüppe.

## Statistics

### Diet

Omnivorous?Piscivorous?

*Halszkaraptor* is an extinct genus of halszkaraptorine dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous.

## History

*H. escuilliei* was named by Cau et al. (2017) from fossils that were poached and sold on the black market. These were later returned to Mongolia, where they were identified as part of Ulhaa Tolgod, Djadochta Formation.

## Classification

Phylogenetic analyses place it in a clade with *Mahakala* and *Hulsanpes* as Halszkaraptorinae. This is placed inside of Dromaeosauridae.

## Paleobiology

    Many believe *Halszkaraptor* was a semiaquatic or fully aquatic dinosaur, which would make it one of the few among non-avian dinosaurs. The holotype was compared to crocodilians and aquatic birds, where Cau et al. found traits that may indicate the above belief. It was also presumed that *Halszkaraptor* used it's wings to propel through the water. Some of these include strong hindlimbs for running and flipper-like forelimbs for swimming. Cau et al. find similarities with mergansers as the closest ecological analogue. They also find shared traits (such as a long neck and a serrated rostral edge for prey capture), a possible piscivorous diet and inferred forelimb-propelled locomotion. However, many also doubt this, finding little or no aquatic correlation and that the body suggests a completely different lifestyle.

Scott Hartman, based on a bone density dataset, believes that though it had thick bones unsuited for diving, it may have been a wading species. Jaime Headden notes that animals typically considered aquatic, such as hippopotamuses and jaguars, lack aquatic adaptations and that morphology does not reflect behaviour. The degree of aquatic behaviour in this taxon may be exaggerated, but similarity to herons and similar birds may be consistent.

## Gallery

**Credit: Joschua Knüppe.****Credit: Lukas Panzarin, Andrea Cau.****Credit: Jed Taylor.****Credit: Saint Thomas Production.****Credit: Jed Taylor.****Credit: Maija Karala.****Credit: TroodonVet.****Credit: Meep (@the\_meep\_lord).****Credit: Elizabeth Hiley (@Medenadragon).**
## References

* https://phys.org/news/2017-12-synchrotron-amphibious-lifestyle-raptorial-dinosaur.html
* https://www.mindat.org/taxon-P364104.html
* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-52867-2
* https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7047864/ [Counter study/Antithesis about semiaquatic interpretations]
* https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Morphometric-analyses-of-aquatic-adaptations-in-the-Halszkaraptor-forelimb-a-Binary\_fig4\_321609878 [*Halszkaraptor* Bio-Analysis]
* https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-furcula-sternum-complex-in-Halszkaraptor-escuilliei-MPC-D-102-109-a-Exposed\_fig2\_353332916 [*Halszkaraptor* Fossils Diagrams]
* https://www.science.org/content/article/duck-faced-dinosaur-took-rare-plunge-back-water
* https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/\_archives/2017/12/08/the-remarkable-and-diverse-maniraptora-halszkaraptor.html
* https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/newly-discovered-swimming-dinosaur-delightfully-bizarre-180967454/
* https://eartharchives.org/articles/the-swimming-raptor-of-mongolia/index.html
* http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology/halszkaraptor-escuilliei-05516.html
* https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/12/swimming-dinosaur/547631/
* https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/duck-duck-dinosaur-meet-halszkaraptor-a-mongolian-mash-up
* https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/duck-dinosaur-amphibious-halszkaraptor-fossil-mongolia-science
* https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/06/smuggled-fossil-very-weird-new-species-of-amphibious-dinosaur-halszkaraptor-escuilliei [Information about the Fossil's İllegal Poaching]
* https://twitter.com/skeletaldrawing/status/1507479337540403201
* https://twitter.com/JaimeHeadden/status/1507480206679764998
* https://theropoda.blogspot.com/2022/12/aquatic-dinosaurs-vs-semi-aquatic.html?spref=tw