DISCOVERIES

All the month’s biggest science news. This issue: dinosaur embryos recreated; evidence ancient humans loved climbing; new smart toilets.

New species of feathery raptor discovered

A newly discovered raptor shows that these dinosaurs stalked the southwest of 0orth America right up to the bitter end.

The raptor was discovered from a -million-year-old fossil, dating it to within a million years of the cataclysmic event that killed off all non-ƃying dinosaurs. It has been named

Dineobellator notohesperus, which means n0avajo warrior from the southwest’, in honour of the people who live in the region where this dinosaur once roamed. It belongs to a family of dinosaurs known as the dromaeosaurids, the most famous of which is Velociraptor – that’s why these dinosaurs are commonly known as ‘raptors’. Dineobellator was a lightly built meat-eater, measuring about two metres in length. Features on the animal’s forelimbs suggest that it boasted strong arms and claws – handy for holding onto prey, or grappling with other dinosaurs.

Its tail was also unusual. Unlike other raptors, it could move its stiff tail at its base, using it almost like a rudder as it raced across the ground.

“Think of what happens with a cat’s tail as it is running,” said 5teven Jasinski, who led the study while completing a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. “While the tail itself remains straight, it is also whipping around constantly as the animal is changing direction. A stiff tail that is highly mobile at its base allows for increased agility and changes in direction, and potentially aided Dineobellator in pursuing prey, especially in more open habitats.” And, just like Velociraptor, it looks like Dineobellator sported feathers. Bones from the dinosaur’s forearm had quill knobs – small bumps on the surface where feathers would be attached by ligaments. “As we find evidence of more members possessing feathers, we believe it is likely that all the dromaeosaurids had feathers,” said Jasinski.