Ravenous Raptors: Exploring the Evolution of Dromaeosaurids

Please enjoy this episode focusing on the Dromaeosaurids, a famous group of Paravian Theropods that were closely related to birds and developed into hypercarnivorous ambush predators. Thumbnail art by Fred Wierum https://www.patreon.com/c/DrPolaris?vanity=user Sources used for this video: Averianov, A. O.; Lopatin, A. V. (July 1, 2021). "A New Theropod Dinosaur (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of Tajikistan". Doklady Earth Sciences. 499 (1): 570–574. Bibcode:2021DokES.499..570A. doi:10.1134/S1028334X21070047. S2CID 236478552. Brownstein, Chase Doran (2021). "Dromaeosaurid crania demonstrate the progressive loss of facial pneumaticity in coelurosaurian dinosaurs". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 191: 87–112. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa048. Cau, A. (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution" (PDF). Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 63 (1). doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08 (inactive 12 July 2025). Currie, P. J.; Evans, D. C. (2019). "Cranial Anatomy of New Specimens of Saurornitholestes langstoni (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta". The Anatomical Record. 303 (4): 691–715. doi:10.1002/ar.24241. PMID 31497925. S2CID 202002676. Currie, Philip J.; Varricchio, David J. (2004), "A new dromaeosaurid from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada" (PDF), in Currie, Philip J.; Koppelhus, Eva B.; Shugar, Martin A.; Wright, Joanna L. (eds.), Feathered Dragons, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, pp. 112–132, ISBN 978-0-253-34373-4. Gianechini, Federico A.; Ercoli, Marcos D.; Díaz-Martínez, Ignacio (5 February 2020). "Differential locomotor and predatory strategies of Gondwanan and derived Laurasian dromaeosaurids (Dinosauria, Theropoda, Paraves): Inferences from morphometric and comparative anatomical studies". Journal of Anatomy. 236 (5): 772–797. doi:10.1111/joa.13153. PMC 7163733. PMID 32023660. Jasinski, Steven E.; Sullivan, Robert M.; Dodson, Peter (2020-03-26). "New Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from New Mexico and Biodiversity of Dromaeosaurids at the end of the Cretaceous". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 5105. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.5105J. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61480-7. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7099077. PMID 32218481. Joeckel, R. M.; Ludvigson, G.; Moeller, A.; Hotton, C. L.; Suarez, M. B.; Suarez, C. A.; Sames, B.; Kirkland, J. I.; Hendrix, B. (2019). "Chronostratigraphy and Terrestrial Palaeoclimatology of Berriasian–Hauterivian Strata of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA". Geological Society of London, Special Publications. 498: 75–100. doi:10.1144/SP498-2018-133. S2CID 210296827. Lü, Junchang; Brusatte, Stephen L. (16 July 2015). "A large, short-armed, winged dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous of China and its implications for feather evolution". Scientific Reports. 5 (1) 11775. Bibcode:2015NatSR...511775L. doi:10.1038/srep11775. PMC 4504142. PMID 26181289. Motta, Matías J.; Agnolína, Federico L.; Eglia, Federico Brissón; Rozadillaa, Sebastián; Novas, Fernando E. (22 Aug 2025). "Phylogenetic relationships of Unenlagiidae among Paraves (Dinosauria)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 23 (1). doi:10.1080/14772019.2025.2529608. Retrieved 22 August 2025. Napoli, J. G.; Ruebenstahl, A. A.; Bhullar, B.-A. S.; Turner, A. H.; Norell, M. A. (2021). "A New Dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Coelurosauria) from Khulsan, Central Mongolia" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (3982): 1–47. doi:10.1206/3982.1. hdl:2246/7286. ISSN 0003-0082. S2CID 243849373. Powers, M. A.; Sullivan, C.; Currie, P. J. (2020). "Re-examining ratio based premaxillary and maxillary characters in Eudromaeosauria (Dinosauria: Theropoda): Divergent trends in snout morphology between Asian and North American taxa". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 547 (109704) 109704. Bibcode:2020PPP...54709704P. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2020.109704. S2CID 216499705. Turner, A. H.; Makovicky, P. J.; Norell, M. A. (21 September 2007). "Feather Quill Knobs in the Dinosaur Velociraptor". Science. 317 (5845): 1721. Bibcode:2007Sci...317.1721T. doi:10.1126/science.1145076. PMID 17885130. Wills, S.; Underwood, C. J.; Barrett, P. M. (2023). "Machine learning confirms new records of maniraptoran theropods in Middle Jurassic UK microvertebrate faunas". Papers in Palaeontology. 9 (2). e1487. Bibcode:2023PPal....9E1487W. doi:10.1002/spp2.1487. Zelenitsky, Darla K.; Therrien, François; Ridgely, Ryan C.; McGee, Amanda R.; Witmer, Lawrence M. (13 April 2011). "Evolution of olfaction in non-avian theropod dinosaurs and birds". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 278 (1725): 3625–3634. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0238. PMC 3203493. PMID 21490022.