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Anonymous
Mesozoic Monday!

Today's dinosaur is Velociraptor
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Remember: plucking off the feathers of a Velociraptor constitutes animal cruelty.
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It's hard to find good pictures of realistic Velociraptors. :(
>> Anonymous
Is there such thing a modern bird without a beak, or a feathered reptile?
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>>297552
No, there are no beakless modern birds. But if you choose to call Velociraptor a reptile, then ever single bird is also a feathered reptile.
>> Anonymous
bump for moar
>> Anonymous
Worst way to die for a nigger: being eaten by a giant prehistoric chicken.

Oh the irony.
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>>298053
It could be worse. It could be a carnivorous water melon.
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>>297552

Genetic markers remain for tooth development in birds, but remains largely inactive. "Rare as a hen's tooth," as it were. But even the occasional "toothed bird" has a beak. Of course, I think we would have classified therapods as birds if they were alive today, so in a way, this thread is about a beakless bird...

The Hoatzin does have claws on it's wings, though... Quoted from some website:

Many features distinguish the hoatzin from other birds, not least of which is its voice which sounds more like a heavy smoker's wheezing than a bird call. About the size of a rather slender, upright pheasant, the hoatzin has an untidy crest of feathers, blood-red eyes encircled by bright blue skin, a long neck and long tail feathers. But perhaps the most interesting characteristic is the presence of claws on the wings and these, although useless to the heavy adult bird, are employed by the youngster to clamber among the branches near the nest- just as Archaeopteryx must have done so many millions of years ago.

The main function of the wing claws, it seems, is to assist the young hoatzin in times of crisis. The nest is normally built on branches overhanging water and is thus exposed to the eyes of marauding hawks. It is a rudely constructed platform of short twigs of roughly pencil thickness. If danger threatens, the parents usually abandon the nest for the safety of dense bushes nearby. The chick, left to its own devices, either uses the wing claws to help it clamber through the branches to some inaccessible spot, or dives into the water and emerges farther downstream to clamber back to 'the nest once the danger has passed.
>> Anonymous
bump, op showed a good pic
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>>298074
The hoatzin claws are an atavism, though. In fact a lot of birds sometimes develop vestigial claws, but only hoatzins and turacos have re-evolved a function for them, although only during their youth.

As for beakless birds, besides Archaeopteryx I don't know of one that would with certainty lack a beak. All the more advanced ones with preserved skulls have beaks even if they do still retain teeth. Apparently beaks evolved pretty much immediately after coelurosaurs took flight.
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BTW I found one more Velociraptor portrait, very much like the OP.
>> Anonymous
I like velociraptors without feathers D: Like the badass ones from Jurassic Park. They look more deadly.

The ones with feathers look cuddly.
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>>298155
The ones in Jurassic Park aren't even really based on Velociraptors. They're Deinonychuses.
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>>298155

I like 'em with feathers! And I was amused that after the feather thing was brought to light, the London Natural History Museum started marketing cuddly velociraptor toys. Pic related. :p
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>>298639
wow, i really want one of those.
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Like all dromaeosaurs, Velociraptor and in fact even Archaeopteryx and the other early birds mostly had hair-like feathers covering their bodies rather than the contour feathers of modern birds. This would have given them a hairy appearance apart from their arm, leg and tail feathers.

So, in other words, rather than a nasty toothed chicken or even a vulture, Velociraptor looked much more like a giant killer kiwi. Try to wrap your brains around that one!
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>>298644
D'awwwwwwAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOHFUCKINGGODMYORGANSOHGODMYFACEOFFUCKOHFUCKOHFUCK!!!!!
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Even if this portrait may be more accurate, I only have space for one Raptor in my heart.
>> Anonymous
here a really nice census for feathered dinosaurs
http://www.dinosaur-world.com/feathered_dinosaurs/0-feathered_dinosaurs.htm
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>>298631
well if it's still a raptor, would it actually have feathers too?
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>>298644
>>298663
I for one welcome our giant killer kiwi overlords
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>>298639
Velociraptors have never been so cute!
>> Hyper Cutter !!fZ983tH9aUp
>>298644
iirc, maniraptorans (the group to which raptors belong) had true feathers like modern birds. It was the rest of the coelurosaurs (tyrannosaurs, ornithomimids, therizinosaurs, etc) that had the fuzzy feathers...
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Dean here. I was just looking for Turu thought he might have stopped in.
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>>298996
>> Paleo Nut Anonymous
>>298844
Yes, the Jurassic Park raptors should have full feather covering, because despite the wrong genus name, they're still dromaeosaurs.


>>298990
No. No. No. Maniraptorans were (probably) the first animals to evolve contour feathers, but in the non-avian and early avian forms they were confined to the arms, legs and tail until much later in bird evolution. All the other parts of their bodies (minus minor detalis such as toes) were still covered in those primitive hair-like feathers. And yes, this information comes from a vertebrate paleontologist, so you can trust it.