DePalma's Ornithuran

*"During the Late Cretaceous, the group including all modern birds appeared and began to diversify. Those in Hell Creek occupy a water-marginal habitat, much like modern waders. Wide, thin toes allow them to walk over soft mud, while a narrow bill is used to probe for seeds and small invertebrates. Why this group of dinosaurs survived the great extinction has been linked to their close ties to water, incredibly fast growth rates, and ability to feed on seeds. Their survival likely owes to a combination of these factors with a little luck thrown in."*

―*Saurian* encyclopedia

The **DePalma's Onithuran**, is a non-playable ornithuran in *Saurian*.

## Classification

There have been multiple avialans belonging to Ornithurae uncovered from the Hell Creek Formation and they are noteworthy component of the ecosystem of the Bone Butte site in South Dakota. This avialan, in particular, appears to be based on an ornithurine shorebird that was discovered in the Bone Butte. The specimen is nearly complete and would have the size of a small duck in life. DePalma (2010) reports that the specimen is currently under further study in preparation for the specimen to receive a description.

## Behavior

It lived around the waterways of the Bone Butte region.

## In Saurian

The DePalma's Ornithuran appears in *Saurian*. It is portrayed with feathers on pretty much all of the body, including wings on the forearms and a tail fan on the tail. Its' color is mainly white with back wings and markings on its' back and tail, red feet, and a mix of red, yellow, and black on its' beak. It is found close to rivers and other bodies of water. They can be detected by scent, with the model being highlighted in a bright blue outline, when in scent view, which allows them to be more easily seen when on the ground. The DePalma's Ornithuran can be seen flying in flocks through the sky. This serves as an ambience, as the player has few chances of reaching them during this, limiting the player to only being able to watch them fly over above. Currently, the DePalma's Ornithuran does not display ontogeny or sexual dimorphism.

### *Dakotaraptor* gameplay

The DePalma's Ornithuran serves as a potential food item for the player, but it is hard to catch once the bird spots the player and flies away. Currently it is the only flying creature that the player can interact with in the game, so, if the player wants to take one down, it must sneak and attack from behind before it flutters away. Stealth is the simplest way to kill one. The DePalma's Ornithuran is a easy food item for a *Dakotaraptor* at any life stage.

### *Triceratops* gameplay

DePalma's ornithurans are harmless creatures for a *Triceratops*. Given that they can fly at the slightest shine of threat, it is very hard for a *Triceratops* to sneak in behind one and kill one.

## Gallery

Young *Dakotaraptor* close to a DePalma's Ornithuran carcass
## Development

It appears that originally this avialan was meant to be *Cimolopteryx*, a similar ornithuran which has been found in the Late Maastrichtian Lance Formation of Wyoming and possibly the Hell Creek Formation as well. It had been previously been featured in concept art made by RJ "Arvalis" Palmer.

## Trivia

* In the public testing branch, its code name is "*Montanaspinus*", a recurrent gag circling around the perceived preference for having a spinosaur in the game, despite no definite spinosaur species being known from the North American continent, let alone Hell Creek. The word *Montanaspinus* was created for a highly hypothetical Hell Creek spinosaurid (which does not exist in real life), and for some reason the name is available in the public testing branch when you're looking for AI to spawn, and once you decide to spawn it, you will spawn a DePalma's ornithuran instead.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ Parker, Tom. (September 1, 2016) Saurian DevLog #2. *Saurian* Website. Retrieved September 7, 2016.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 DePalma II, Robert A. (2010) Geology, Taphonomy, and Paleoecology of a Unique Upper Cretaceous Bonebed Near the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in South Dakota. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
3. ↑ Longrich, Nicholes P., Tokaryk, Tim, Field, Daniel J. (2011) Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary. *Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences of the United States of America*, **108**(37)