Bambiraptor

*Bambiraptor feinbergi*

***Bambiraptor*** is one of the most important fossils found in North America. This little bird-like dinosaur was a very quick hunter, and it may have been an important step in dinosaurs' evolution into birds. Scientists believe that feathers and fuzz covered its body. The fuzz would have been like the downy covering on baby birds.

*Bambiraptor* had quite a few features in common with modern birds. It had a wishbone, something all modern birds have that allow them to flap their wings, and its arms and hands were very long for its body size. In fact, the length of its arms and hands approached the lengths needed for flight. It also had an ossified sternum, a bone that is essential for birds to be able to move their wings for flying. Even with these similarities, however, there is no doubt that *Bambiraptor* was still a dinosaur from the raptor family. It had the killer claw on its foot like *Velociraptor*, and it had a mouth full of sharp teeth. It is considered by many to be the North American version of *Archaeopteryx*.
Clearly a short step away from its European relative, this specimen is an exceptionally important piece of the bird/dinosaur puzzle. With more than 90 percent of the animal discovered, along with the remains of what may be a second individual, this specimen will continue to provide insight into the evolution of birds.

## Discovery

The *Bambiraptor* skeleton was discovered in 1993 by 14-year-old fossil hunter Wes Linster, who was looking for dinosaur bones with his parents near Glacier National Park in Montana, United States. Linster told Time Magazine that he uncovered the skeleton on a tall hill and was amazed at his discovery. "I bolted down the hill to get my mom because I knew I shouldn't be messing with it", he said. The bones that Linster discovered on that hilltop led to the excavation of a skeleton that was approximately 95 percent complete. Because of its completeness Florida Paleontology Institute Director Martin Shugar compared it to the 'Rosetta Stone' that enabled archaeologists to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Yale paleontologist John Ostrom, who reintroduced the theory of bird evolution from dinosaurs after his 1964 discovery of *Deinonychus* in Wyoming, agreed, calling the specimen a "jewel", and telling reporters that the completeness and undistorted qualities of the bones should help scientists further understand the dinosaur-bird link.

The fossil first was seen as the young of *Saurornitholestes* and in 1997 reported as belonging to a *Velociraptor* sp.[2] In 2000 it was named and described by David Burnham, Kraig Derstler, Phil Currie, Robert Bakker, Zhou Zhonge and John Ostrom as a separate species: *Bambiraptor feinbergi*. The generic name is derived from Bambi, in reference to the young age of the specimen, and a Latin raptor, "seizer". The specific epithet honours Michael and Ann Feinberg who acquired the specimen from a fossil dealer and made it available to science.[3] In 2000 George Olshevsky suggested the emended epithet "feinbergorum", the plural genitive, and this was followed by some authors but such emendations are no longer allowed by the ICZN.

The holotype specimen AMNH FR 30554 (previously AMNH 001 and FIP 001), was uncovered in layers of the Upper Two Medicine Formation dating to the late Campanian. It is currently housed at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. It consists of a partially articulated largely complete skeleton with skull of a juvenile individual. Though the right side of the skeleton is damaged, most bones are uncompressed and well-preserved. The end of the tail is lacking. Also a paratype was assigned in 2000, FIP 002-136, consisting of thirty-four skeletal elements of at least two adult individuals found near the holotype. In 2004 an upper jaw bone was referred to the species, specimen MOR 553S-7-30-91-274.

## Description

While adult specimens are known, only the type specimen, a juvenile, has been described. This juvenile *Bambiraptor* has a preserved length of 90 centimetres (3.0 ft),[5] and an estimated total length of one metre. It perhaps weighed only two kilograms (4.4 lb). In 2010 Gregory S. Paul estimated the adult length at 1.3 metres, the weight at five kilogrammes. It had long hindlimbs, indicating it could have been a fast runner. It also had very long arms and a well-developed wishbone.

### Forelimbs

Research done by Phil Senter of the Lamar State College in Orange, Texas has indicated that *Bambirapto*r may have had mutually opposable first and third fingers and a forelimb maneuverability that would allow the hand to reach its mouth. This would have given the animal the ability to "hold" food in its front limbs and place it in its mouth, in a similar manner to some modern-day small mammals.[8]

### Brain

*Bambiraptor* had a brain size in the lower range of modern birds. Because of its enlarged cerebellum, which may indicate higher agility and higher intelligence than other dromaeosaurs, David A. Burnham has hypothesized that *Bambiraptor feinbergi* may have been arboreal. Life in the trees may have required evolutionary pressure that resulted in a larger brain. Burnham also offers an alternative hypothesis that a larger brain could be selected for as a result of hunting more agile prey items such as lizards and mammals. The *Bambiraptor* holotype had with 14 cm³ the largest brain for its size of any dinosaur yet discovered, although the brain size may be due to its age, because juvenile animals tend to have larger brain-to-body ratios compared to adults.

### Feathers

During the conference where *Bambiraptor* was first introduced, the dinosaur reconstruction specialist Brian Cooley portrayed *Bambiraptor* as having feathers, despite the fact that no feathers were found with the fossil itself. His decision was influenced by the fact that because *Bambiraptor* within a cladistic analysis was a member of a group, Paraves, that contained feathered true birds and that was the sister taxon of Oviraptorosauria, a group that also had feathered forms (e.g. *Caudipteryx*), *Bambiraptor* most likely had feathers too due to phylogenetic bracketing. Most paleontologists support Cooley's view, and subsequent discoveries confirmed that small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs like *Bambiraptor* were fully covered in feathers (see Dromaeosauridae for more information).

## History

Paleontologists from the University of Kansas, Yale University, and the University of New Orleans recently announced the discovery of a 75 million year old, bird like dinosaur that when living would have stood no more than three feet off the ground. Because of its size and gentle appearance they christened it *Bambiraptor feinbergi*, after the familiar Disney movie character and the surname of the wealthy family who bought and donated the specimen to the new Graves Museum of Natural History in Florida.

*Bambiraptor* is set apart from other members of the dinosauria by its wings, wishbone, and possible feathers. There is no indication of whether it could fly, but the authors are calling it the most anatomically bird like dinosaur ever discovered. They also say that the find adds more evidence to the popular claim that small predatory dinosaurs evolved into birds.

The specimen was officially unveiled to the paleontological world on March 15 in Florida, and will be permanently displayed at the new Graves Museum in Florida. The museum plans a large dinosaur hall, and joining *Bambiraptor* will be a nearly complete Gorgosaur specimen and several dinosaur casts. The museum is also hosting a dinosaur-bird symposium in early April.

Despite the several noticeable avian characteristics of *Bambiraptor*, some paleontologists are discrediting the fact that this specimen holds a key in understanding dinosaur-bird evolution. They point out that flight in birds most likely evolved in the Late Triassic or Early Jurassic, which is evident by *Archaeopteryx*, the first true bird which was discovered in 150 million year old Jurassic sediments. *Bambiraptor* dates from the Late Cretaceous, and appeared only in the last ten million years in the existence of the dinosaurs. By this time flight was already advanced in birds, and several paleontologists even believe that all modern bird orders had been developed.

Regardless, *Bambiraptor* is still being heralded as a major discovery for the pro-dinosaur-bird evolutionists. The announcement is especially important after another bird-like dinosaur, *Archaeoraptor*, turned out to actually be a composite of two different fossils. This discovery should help pro-evolutionists to get 'back on track,' both in the scientific world and in the media, who were quick to report that the dinosaur bird link was 'dead' following the *Archaeoraptor* hoax.

The *Bambiraptor* specimen will be displayed at the Graves indefinitely, and the scientific research paper written by David Burnham, Kraig Dertsler, and John Ostrom, among others, will soon be released to the public from the University of Kansas.2

Like the dromaeosaurus, this dinosaur is part of the dromeosaurids them and like this so close related to modern birds.
All these dinosaurs had feathers and other features similar to them, such as hollow bones.
But *Bambiraptor* has a characteristic that makes the difference and that their discovery was an important finding: it had a skeleton almost identical to that of birds today.
Especially bone was called a fuse that helps birds to flap your arms and also had a very long, with a length close to that required to fly.

They had sharp claws on each of his feet, like the *Velociraptor*. This indicates that it was a good hunter, its prey may also have been small reptiles, mammals or insects.

Average about 70 centimeters. long and 30 centimeters. high. Its weight was approximately 3 kilograms.

The *Bambiraptor* lived about 75 million years.

Based on an analysis of its skull, the researchers claim that it had a brain nearly so great as that of modern birds.

Recent investigations lead us to believe that one of his fingers could object to others, like the thumb in humans. This feature is not known in any other dinosaur.

It is generally believed that its name comes from Bambi, the Disney character, but some sources think that comes from "bambino" meaning "child" in Italian.

Was being bipedal, with long slender legs that helped to run fast.

*Bambiraptor* remains were discovered in 1995 by a boy of 14 years (Wes Linster) who was looking for dinosaur bones with his parents in nearby Glacier National Park in Montana, United States.
The boy said that when he found the bones they found that their discovery was a very important and is not really wrong. The skeleton was preserved *Bambiraptor* almost completely. 3. 4.

During the conference where *Bambiraptor* was first introduced, the dinosaur reconstruction specialist Brian Cooley portrayed Bambiraptor as having feathers, despite the fact that no feathers were found with the fossil itself. His decision was influenced by the fact that because *Bambiraptor* within a cladistic analysis was a member of a group, Paraves, that contained feathered true birds and that was the sister taxon of *Oviraptorosauria*, a group that also had feathered forms (e.g. Caudipteryx), *Bambiraptor* most likely had feathers too due to phylogenetic bracketing. Most paleontologists support Cooley's view, and subsequent discoveries confirmed that small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs like *Bambiraptor* were fully covered in feathers (see Dromaeosauridae for more information). 5.

## Classification

It was described as a new taxon within Dromaeosauridae although some believe should be sinonimizado with Saurornitholestes. This view seems largely due to the stratigraphy for *Bambiraptor* known, however it has never advocated this position with the characters shared. In fact, *Bambiraptor* has been placed on the cladistic analysis of far Saurornitholestes published in phylogenetic analysis. This could be due to differences explicable ontogenetic as the holotype of Bambiraptor is young and paratypes adults have never been described. The description of these paratypes, and additional youth Dromeosaurids most complete specimens of Saurornitholestes should help resolve this debate. 6.

## Phylogeny

Bambiraptor was assigned to the Dromaeosauridae in 2000. Subsequent cladistic analyses differ in the position of Bambiraptor: it has been recovered in the Velociraptorinae, Microraptoria and most recently in the Saurornitholestinae.

## JPInstitute.com Description

Bambiraptor is one of the most important fossils found in North America. This little bird-like dinosaur was a very quick hunter, and it may have been an important step in dinosaurs' evolution into birds. Scientists believe that feathers and fuzz covered its body. The fuzz would have been like the downy covering on baby birds.

Bambiraptor had quite a few features in common with modern birds. It had a wishbone, something all modern birds have that allow them to flap their wings, and its arms and hands were very long for its body size. In fact, the length of its arms and hands approached the lengths needed for flight. It also had an ossified sternum, a bone that is essential for birds to be able to move their wings for flying.

Even with these similarities, however, there is no doubt that Bambiraptor was still a dinosaur from the raptor family. It had the killer claw on its foot like Velociraptor, and it had a mouth full of sharp teeth. Bambiraptor is considered by many to be the North American version of Archaeopteryx. Clearly a short step away from its European relative, this specimen is an exceptionally important piece of the bird/dinosaur puzzle. With more than 90 percent of the animal discovered, along with the remains of what may be a second individual, this specimen will continue to provide insight into the evolution of birds.

Note: Bambiraptor is NOT named after a famous cartoon deer. Bambi is short for the Italian word "Bambino," which means baby.

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20031008031105fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_bambi.html#
https://web.archive.org/web/20080706033830/http://kids.yahoo.com/dinosaurs/381--Bambiraptor