Tiny two-toed Early Cretaceous theropod sprinting track: wing assisted?
Perhaps not.
Not mentioned in the text, Late Jurassic Hesperornithoides (Fig 1) has relatively long legs and small feet. Here a smaller (juvenile?) version of that morphology fits the tracks without flapping.
Figure 1b from Dececchi et al 2024. Here long legged, small toed Hesperornithoides added to scale and reduced to show a juvenile version fitting the tracks.
” data-medium-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/skorea_theropod_track588.jpg?w=267″ data-large-file=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/skorea_theropod_track588.jpg?w=584″ class=”size-full wp-image-89249″ src=”https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/skorea_theropod_track588.jpg” alt=”Figure 1b from Dececchi et al 2024. Here long legged, small toed Hesperornithoides added to scale and reduced to show a juvenile version fitting the tracks. ” width=”584″ height=”657″ />
From the Dececchi et al 2024 abstract
“Here, we explore this potential by reexamining one of the smallest and fastest known
theropod trackways (Trackway 2) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Jinju Formation
of South Korea.We considered whether these microraptorine tracks were produced
under purely hindlimb power or if they also involved, at least partially, forelimb-generated
aerodynamic forces. Given the suggested aerial status of microraptorines like Microraptor, this trackway is a candidate to support previously proposed aerial locomotion. We
evaluate this hypothesis and discuss the significance of our results for understanding
theropod locomotor evolution.”
A FB note to first author Dececchi
started a short conversation in which he indicated the foot of Hesperornithoides was too large to fit the track. I then reminded Dececchi that the illustration (Fig 1) hypothesized an ankle-high juvenile, as yet undocumented in the fossil record. Hatchlings are to be expected for all taxa.
References
Dececchi TA et al (6 co-authors) 2024. Theropod trackways as indirect evidence of pre-avian aerial behavior. PNAS 121(44):e2413810121
Publicity
https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/news/thomas-holtz-helps-solve-mystery-microraptorine-footprints
https://www.science.org/content/article/glide-and-stride-tiny-feathered-dino-flapped-it-ran
Source: https://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2024/11/02/tiny-two-toed-early-cretaceous-theropod-sprinting-track-wing-assisted/
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