RE: Neuquenraptor argentinus

[Jeff Hecht <jeff@jeffhecht.com>]

I wrote an article for New Scientist's web site at 
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7055, which is now up. It includes 
a sketch of Neuquenraptor, and comments from a certain dino-list member.

At 1:46 PM -0500 2/23/05, Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. wrote:
>Wow, Nature is out early today!
>
>Yes, Neuquenraptor argentinus (the taxon formerly called "Araucanoraptor" on 
>the list) is now published. It is an apparently fully
>arctometatarsalian dromaeosaurid, although the proximal end of the metatarsus 
>isn't known. No, it doesn't seem to be a troodontid!
>Other than the fully pinched mtIII, the anatomical details and relative 
>proportions of the foot support it as a probable
>dromaeosaurid. Material consists of fragments of cervical vertebra, dorsal 
>ribs, haemal arches, left proximal radius, right femur
>and distal tibia, proximal tarsals, and most of the foot of the left hindlimb, 
>found while digging up the ribcage of a titanosaur.
>
>In their analysis it falls out in a basal polytomy with Unenlagia, 
>Sinornithosaurus, Microraptor, and a clade comprised of
>Dromaeosaurinae (Dromaeosaurus, Utahraptor, Achillobator, and Adasaurus) and 
>Velociraptorinae (Velociraptor, Deinonychus, and the
>Ukhaa dromaeo). They note that the dromaeosaurine-velociraptorine group does 
>seem to be a strictly Laurasian clade, but that
>Dromaeosauridae as a whole is cosmopolitan.

-- 
Jeff Hecht, science & technology writer
jeff@jeffhecht.com; http://www.jeffhecht.com
Boston Correspondent: New Scientist magazine
Contributing Editor: Laser Focus World
525 Auburn St., Auburndale, MA 02466 USA
v. 617-965-3834; fax 617-332-4760