Bambiraptor

Credit: PaleoEquii on the Wikimedia Commons.

*Bambiraptor* is an extinct genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous.

## History

*Bambiraptor* was discovered in 1933 by Wes Linser, who was 14 years old at the time. He was looking from dinosaur fossils with his parents near Glacier National Park, Montana, who apparently uncovered the specimen on a "tall hill" and was amazed with what he had discovered. He then ran down the hill to his parents because he "know [he] shouldn't be messing with it" (in an interview with Time Magazine). Later, a hilltop excavation found the specimen was 95% complete, with the Florida Paleontology Institute Director Martin Shugar comparing it to the Rosetta Stone due to how complete it is. John Ostrom, the man who reintroduced the theory that bird are dinosaurs, called it a "jewel" that may help us better understand bird evolution. The fossil was seen as a *Saurornitholestes* and then as *Velociraptor* sp. in 1997. In 2000, the specimen was named and described by David Burnham, Kraig Derstler, Phil Currie, Robert Bakker, Zhou Zhonge and John Ostrom as *Bambiraptor feinbergi*. "Bambi" refers to ho young the specimen was and "raptor" means "seizer" in Latin. The epithet is after Michael and Ann Feinberg, who acquired the specimen from a fossil dealer. George Olshevsky (2000) recommended "feinbergorum" (the plural form), and some authors followed, but it never became formal due to ICZN rules.

The holotype is known as AMNH FR 30556, but was previously known as AMNH 001 and FIP 001, and is sometimes wrongly known as AMNH FR 30554. It was uncovered in the Upper Two Medicine Formation from the Late Campanian. It is housed in the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and is partially-articulated and mostly complete. Although the right side is damaged, most of it is uncompressed and very well-preserved. The tip of the tail is lacking. A paratype was referred in 2000, FIP 002-136; 34 elements of at least 2 adult individuals and found near the holotype. MOR 553S-7-30-91-274, an upper jaw, was referred in 2004.

## Description

Adult *Bambiraptor* are known, but the type is immature. This fossil was 90 centimeters (3 feet) long, and the individual's total is ~1 meter. It may have weighed 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) . Gregory S. Paul (2010) estimated adults were 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) in length and 5 kilograms in weight.

Their hindlimbs were long, which indicates a fast runner. Additionally, it had every long arms and a well-developed wishbone. Research by Phil Senter suggests *Bambiraptor* could had have mutually opposable digits in the first and third fingers, and the maneuverability of the forearms would have allowed them to reach the mouth. Thus, *Bambiraptor* could 'hold' food in it's hands and place them inside its mouth, similar to small extant mammals. *Bambiraptor*'s brain size falls in the lower range of modern birds. Higher agility and higher intelligence is indicated by an enlarged cerebellum, which *Bambiraptor* possesses.

David A. Burnham suggests an arboreal animal, which could have caused a larger brain because of evolutionary pressure. He also hypothesizes *Bambiraptor* may have had an enlarged brain because of hunting agile prey (such as lizards and mammals). The *Bambiraptor* holotype had a brain that was the largest of any known dinosaur, having 14 centimeters³. This may be due to this individual's immaturity, since juveniles tend to have a larger brain-body ratio when compared with mature specimens.

The conference where *Bambiraptor* was introduced saw paleoart produced by Brian Coolery coated in feathers, which was seen as controversial since no feathers were preserved in the fossil. He had decided to portray the animal that way because cladistic analysis placed *Bambiraptor* in paraves (containing true feathered birds, and the sister to oviraptorosaurs, who also had feathers). *Bambiraptor* likely had feathers due to phylogenetic bracketing, and most support this view. Later discoveries would confirm dromaeosaurs had a full feather coat.

## Classification

In 2000, *Bambiraptor* was assigned Dromaeosauridae. Other phylogenetic analysis place it as a microraptorian, velociraptorine or saurornitholestine.

## Reference

* Dorling Kindersley Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Life, p. 137
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambiraptor