Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The fruits of May. Saga of the Cretaceous. Adasaurus

At just under two meters long,‭ ‬Adasaurus is roughly on the smaller average end of the size range for dromaeosaurs.‭ ‬Close study of Adasaurus remains have identified it as a dromaeosaurine dromaeosaurid,‭ ‬meaning that it is more closely related to dromaeosaurs such as Yurgovuchia,‭ ‬Dromaeosaurus,‭ ‬Achillobator and Utahraptor.‭ ‬Like with its relatives,‭ ‬Adasaurus was a hunter of other animals,‭ ‬quite probably other dinosaurs.‭ ‬The primary killing weapons for Adasaurus would have been the two enlarged sickle claws on its feet,‭ ‬which may have been used to jab at prey.‭ ‬Although not confirmed,‭ ‬because Adasaurus is a dromaeosaurid dinosaur,‭ ‬it is expected to have had at‭ ‬least some feathers present on the body in life.
       Adasaurus was named after an evil spirit called Ada which appears in Mongolian mythology.‭ ‬The species name mongoliensis simply means‭ ‘‬From Mongolia‭’‬.‭ ‬Adasaurus is one of many dinosaurs recovered from the world famous Nemegt Formation,‭ ‬which also holds other notable dinosaur genera such as Alioramus,‭ ‬Gallimimus,‭ ‬Avimimus,‭ ‬Therizinosaurus and Tarbosaurus amongst an ever increasing number of discovered dinosaurs.

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