Rahonavis

“cloud/menace bird”

CLASSIFICATION

Rahonavis  Forster, Sampson, Chiappe & Krause, 1998TYPE SPECIES: R. ostromi (Forster, Sampson, Chiappe & Krause, 1998) (originally “Rahona“) “John  Ostrom’s cloud/menace bird”

Animalia Vertebrata Tetrapoda Sauropsida Archosauromorpha Ornithodira Dinosauria Sauropodomorpha

see also: Genus Index, Classification

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TIME

Maastrichtian

see also: Ages of the Mesozoic

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PLACE

Madagascar

see also: Paleo-Maps

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REMAINS

• [holotype]: vertebrae, scapula, partial pelvis, partial limbs
• 2 distal humeri

see also: Anatomy

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ESSAY

This raven-sized creature appears to be somewhere between dromaeosaurids and birds. It had a “sickle claw”, like dromaeosaurids, and feathered wings, like birds (feather impressions were not preserved, but anchor points are evident along the wing’s bones, as in many modern birds). It also had a bird-like sacrum. The fossil was found in two parts, the thorax in hindlimbs in one part, and the sacrum, pelvis, hindlimbs, and tail in the other. This led to some suspicion that it was a chimera, but given that the halves came out in the same position from cladistic analyses that tested them separately, coupled with additional anatomic and taphonomic details, it seems quite likely that both halves belonged to the same individual.

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IMAGES

Click on thumbnail to see full image.

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