Raptors are found on every continent except Antarctica. RAP-ter rhymes with chapter, captor, and "tapped her". But there is more to raptors than just their hunting style.
Many characteristics make raptors unique, including:. Many other characteristics can help distinguish raptors from other types of birds, including individual territory size and patient hunting behavior.
There are more than species of raptors around the world. Common and familiar raptor classifications and examples of popular raptors include:. Each of these types of raptors has unique characteristics that distinguish them from one another, but they all share traits and behaviors that make them birds of prey.
Many birders are interested in seeing more raptors, and fortunately, it is easy to add birds of prey to one's life list.
Raptors are found in all types of habitats , and because these are larger birds, they are often easier to see and identify, particularly for novice birders. At the same time, since raptors require large territories and are relatively solitary birds, it can be difficult to find many raptors within a small region. Understanding the where, when, and how to find raptors can help any birder see more of these phenomenal birds.
In any case, there's no question that raptors are closely related to modern birds; in fact, the word "raptor" is also used to describe big-taloned birds like eagles and falcons. Raptors came into their own during the late Cretaceous period about 90 to 65 million years ago , but they roamed the earth for tens of millions of years before that.
The most notable dromaeosaur of the early Cretaceous period was Utahraptor , a gigantic predator, approaching 2, pounds in weight, that lived about 50 million years before its more famous descendants; still, paleontologists believe that most proto-raptors of the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods were relatively tiny, scurrying beneath the feet of larger sauropod and ornithopod dinosaurs. During the late Cretaceous period, raptors could be found all over the planet, with the exception of modern-day Australia and southern Africa.
These dinosaurs varied enormously in size and sometimes in anatomical features: the above-mentioned Microraptor weighed only a few pounds and had four feathered proto-wings, while the fierce, one-ton Utahraptor could have whomped a Deinonychus with one claw tied behind its back. In between were standard-issue raptors like Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes, swift, fierce, feathered predators that made quick meals out of lizards, bugs, and smaller dinosaurs. As mentioned above, even the brainiest raptor of the Mesozoic Era couldn't hope to outwit a Siamese cat, much less a full-grown human being.
However, it's clear that dromaeosaurs and, for that matter, all theropods must have been slightly smarter than the herbivorous dinosaurs they preyed on, since the tools required for active predation a sharp sense of smell and sight, quick reflexes, hand-eye coordination, etc. As for those lumbering sauropods and ornithopods, they only had to be slightly smarter than the vegetation they munched on!
The debate about whether raptors hunted in packs has yet to be settled conclusively. The fact is, very few modern birds engage in cooperative hunting, and since birds are tens of millions of years farther down the evolutionary line than raptors, that can be taken as indirect evidence that Velociraptor packs are a figment of Hollywood producers' imaginations.
Still, the recent discovery of multiple raptor track marks in the same location hints that at least some of these dinosaurs must have roamed in small packs, so cooperative hunting would certainly have been within the realm of possibility, at least for some genera. By the way, a recent study has concluded that raptors--and many other small- to medium-sized theropod dinosaurs--most likely hunted at night, as evidenced by their larger-than-usual eyes. Bigger eyes allow a predator to gather in more available light, making it easier to home in on small, quivering dinosaurs, lizards, birds and mammals in near-dark conditions.
Hunting at night would also have allowed smaller raptors to escape the attention of larger tyrannosaurs, thus assuring the perpetuation of the raptor family tree! Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Small size; bipedal posture; feathers. Argentina's Neuquen province, in Patagonia, has proven to be a rich source of dinosaur fossils dating to the late Cretaceous period.
Originally diagnosed as a juvenile of another South American raptor, Neuquenraptor, Pamparaptor was elevated to genus status on the basis of a well-preserved hind foot sporting the single, curved, elevated claw characteristic of all raptors.
As dromaeosaurs go, the feathered Pamparaptor was on the tiny end of the scale, only measuring about two feet from head to tail and weighing a few pounds soaking wet. Pyroraptor Greek for "fire thief" ; pronounced PIE-roe-rap-tore. Plains of western Europe. About 8 feet long and pounds. Large, sickle-shaped claws on feet; probably feathers.
As you may have guessed from the last part of its name, Pyroraptor belongs to the same family of theropods as Velociraptor and Microraptor: the raptors, which were distinguished by their speed, viciousness, single-clawed hind feet and in most cases feathers. Pyroraptor "fire thief" didn't earn its name because it actually stole fire, or even breathed fire, in addition to the usual array of raptor weapons: the more prosaic explanation is that the only known fossil of this dinosaur was discovered in , in southern France, after a forest fire.
Woodlands of Madagascar. About one foot long and one pound. Small size; feathers; single curved claw on each foot. Rahonavis is one of those creatures that triggers enduring feuds among paleontologists. When it was first discovered an incomplete skeleton unearthed in Madagascar in , researchers assumed it was a type of bird, but further study showed certain traits common to dromaeosaurs better known to the general public as raptors.
Like such undisputed raptors as Velociraptor and Deinonychus, Rahonavis had a single huge claw on each hind foot, as well as other raptor-like features. What is the current thinking about Rahonavis? Most scientists agree that raptors counted among the early ancestors of birds, meaning that Rahonavis might be a "missing link" between these two families.
The trouble is, it wouldn't be the only such missing link; dinosaurs may have made the evolutionary transition to flight multiple times, and only one of these lineages went on to spawn modern birds. About five feet long and 30 pounds. Sharp teeth; large claws on feet; probably feathers. If only Saurornitholestes had been given a manageable name, it might be as popular as its more famous cousin, Velociraptor. Both these dinosaurs were excellent examples of late Cretaceous dromaeosaurs better known to the general public as raptors , with their slight, agile builds, sharp teeth, relatively large brains, big-clawed hind feet, and probably feathers.
Tantalizingly, paleontologists have discovered a wing bone of the huge pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus with a Saurornitholestes tooth embedded inside it. Since it's unlikely that a pound raptor could have taken down a pound pterosaur all by itself, this can be taken as evidence that either a Saurornitholestes hunted in packs or b more likely, a lucky Saurornitholestes happened upon an already-dead Quetzalcoatlus and took a bite out of the carcass.
Small size; feathers; bipedal posture. During the early Cretaceous period, million years ago, it was difficult to distinguish one small, feathered dinosaur from the next—the boundaries separating raptors from "troodontids" from plain-vanilla, bird-like theropods were still in flux.
As far as paleontologists can tell, Shanag was an early raptor closely related to the contemporary, four-winged Microraptor, but also shared some characteristics with the line of feathered dinosaurs that went on to spawn the late Cretaceous Troodon. Since all we know of Shanag consists of a partial jaw, further fossil discoveries should help determine its exact place on the dinosaur evolutionary tree.
Large size; flapping arms; probably feathers. Although it was unmistakably a dromaeosaur what ordinary folks call a raptor , Unenlagia has raised some puzzling issues for evolutionary biologists. This feathered dinosaur was distinguished by its very limber shoulder girdle, which gave its arms a broader range of motion than comparable raptors—so it's only a short step to imagining that Unenlagia actually flapped its feathered arms, which might well have resembled wings.
The puzzlement pertains to the fact that Unenlagia was clearly too big, about six feet long and 50 pounds, to take to the air by way of comparison, flying pterosaurs with comparable wingspans weighed much less. This raises the prickly question: could Unenlagia have spawned a now-extinct line of flying, feathered descendants similar to modern birds, or was it a flightless relative of the first, genuine birds that preceded it by tens of millions of years?
Utahraptor was by far the biggest raptor that ever lived, which raises a serious conundrum: this dinosaur lived tens of millions of years before its more famous descendants like Deinonychus and Velociraptor , during the middle Cretaceous period! About seven feet long and pounds. Long arms; long, lightly built skull with numerous teeth. Despite its impressive name, the French Variraptor occupies a place on the second tier of the raptor family, since not everyone accepts that this dinosaur's scattered fossil remains add up to a convincing genus and it's not even clear exactly when this dromaeosaur lived.
As it has been reconstructed, Variraptor was slightly smaller than the North American Deinonychus, with a proportionately lighter head and longer arms. There's also some speculation that unlike most raptors Variraptor may have been a scavenger rather than an active hunter, though the case for that would certainly be bolstered by more convincing fossil remains.
Velociraptor wasn't a particularly big dinosaur, though it did have a mean disposition. This feathered raptor was about the size of a large chicken, and there's no evidence that it was anywhere near as smart as it has been depicted in the movies. About five feet long and 20 pounds. Relatively large size; short arms; primitive feathers. There's something about Chinese bonebeds that lend themselves to spectacularly preserved fossil specimens. The latest example is Zhenyuanlong, announced to the world in and represented by a nearly complete skeleton lacking only the hind part of the tail complete with the fossil imprint of wispy feathers.
Zhenyuanlong was fairly large for an early Cretaceous raptor about five feet long, which places it in the same weight class as the much later Velociraptor , but it was hobbled by a relatively short arm-to-body ratio and it was almost certainly unable to fly. The paleontologist who discovered it no doubt seeking press coverage has called it the "fluffy feathered poodle from hell. Actively scan device characteristics for identification.
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