Bambiraptor Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Bambiraptor skull in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Infraorder: Coelurosauria Family: Dromaeosauridae Subfamily:  ?Microraptorinae Genus: Bambiraptor Species: B. feinbergi
Binomial name
Bambiraptor feinbergi Burnham et al., 2000

Bambiraptor is a 75 million year old bird-like dinosaur discovered by scientists at the University of Kansas, Yale University, and the University of New Orleans. When living, Bambiraptor would have stood no more than 0.3 meters (1 ft) off the ground, reached 0.7 meters (2.3 ft) in length, and weighed only 2 kilograms (4.4 lbs), although this specimen appears to be a juvenile.[1] Because of its small size, it was christened Bambiraptor feinbergi, after the familiar Disney movie character and the surname of the wealthy family who bought and donated the specimen to the new Graves Museum of Natural History in Florida. Geography of the US in the late Cretaceous Late Cretaceous (also called the Upper Cretaceous) refers to the second half of the Cretaceous period, named after the famous white chalk cliffs of southern England, which date from this time. ... Image File history File links Bambiraptor-head. ... The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxfords natural history specimens. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Anapsida Diapsida Synonyms Reptilia Laurenti, 1768 Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class Sauropsida. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Groups Sauropodomorpha    Saturnalia    Prosauropoda    Sauropoda Theropoda    Eoraptor    Herrerasauridae    Ceratosauria    Tetanurae       Aves(extant) Saurischians (from the Greek Saurischia meaning lizard hip) are one of the two orders/branches of dinosaurs. ... Subdivisions ?Eoraptor Herrerasauria Coelophysoidea Ceratosauria Cryolophosaurus Spinosauridae Carnosauria Coelurosauria Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. ... Subclades Nqwebasaurus Proceratosaurus Tyrannoraptora ?Coeluridae ?Compsognathidae Tyrannosauroidea Maniraptoriformes [incertae sedis] Alvarezsauridae Maniraptora Ornithomimosauria Coelurosauria is a group of theropod dinosaurs that includes the subgroups Tyrannosauridae, Ornithomimidae, and Maniraptora. ... Genera Achillobator Adasaurus Atrociraptor Bambiraptor Buitreraptor Cryptovolans Deinonychus Dromaeosaurus Dromaeosauroides Graciliraptor Microraptor Neuquenraptor Pyroraptor Rahonavis Saurornitholestes Sinornithosaurus Tsaagan Unenlagia Utahraptor Variraptor Velociraptor Dromaeosaurids, raptors or members of the family Dromaeosauridae (running lizards from Greek dromeus (δρομευς) meaning runner and sauros (σαυρος) meaning lizard) are theropod dinosaurs. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A model of Archaeopteryx lithographica on display at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History The current scientific consensus holds that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... The University of Kansas (often referred to as KU) is an institution of higher learning in Lawrence, Kansas. ... “Yale” redirects here. ... The University of New Orleans, often called UNO, is a medium sized public urban university located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ... Walt Disney Pictures logo (2006-present) Walt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company: // Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since the death of Walt Disney were released under the name of... This article is about the U.S. State. ...

Bambiraptor skeleton in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

The Bambiraptor skeleton was discovered in 1995 by 14-year-old fossil hunter Wes Linster, who was looking for dinosaur bones with his parents near Glacier National Park in Montana. Linster told Time Magazine that he uncovered the skeleton on a tall hill and was amazed at his discovery. "I bolted down the hill to get my mom because I knew I shouldn't be messing with it", he said. The bones that Linster discovered on that hilltop led to the excavation of a skeleton that was approximately 95 percent complete. Because of its completeness Florida Paleontology Institute Director Martin Shugar compared it to the 'Rosetta Stone' that enabled archaeologists to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Yale paleontologist John Ostrom, who reintroduced the theory of bird evolution from dinosaurs after his 1964 discovery of Deinonychus in Wyoming, agreed, calling the specimen a "jewel", and telling reporters that the completeness and undistorted qualities of the bones should help scientists further understand the dinosaur-bird link. The specimen is currently housed at the American Museum of Natural History, New York. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2400 KB) Photographer: User:Ballista I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2560x1920, 2400 KB) Photographer: User:Ballista I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, sometimes known simply as the Oxford University Museum, is a museum displaying many of the University of Oxfords natural history specimens. ... Wes Linster was the discoverer of the first intact skeleton of Bambiraptor feinbergi, which is suggested to be the most convincing evolutionary link yet between dinosaurs and birds. ... There is also a non-adjoining national park by the same name in British Columbia. ... Official language(s) English Capital Helena Largest city Billings Area  Ranked 4th  - Total 147,165 sq mi (381,156 km²)  - Width 255 miles (410 km)  - Length 630 miles (1,015 km)  - % water 1  - Latitude 44°26N to 49°N  - Longitude 104°2W to 116°2W Population  Ranked... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum. ... John Ostrom John H. Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized modern understanding of dinosaurs in the 1960s, when he demonstrated that dinosaurs are more like big non-flying birds than they are like lizards (or saurians), an idea first proposed by Thomas Henry... The current scientific consensus holds that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs. ... 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ... Binomial name Deinonychus antirrhopus Ostrom, 1969 Deinonychus (IPA ) meaning terrible claw (Greek δεινος meaning terrible and ονυξ/ονυχος meaning claw) was a jaguar-sized, carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur species from the Early Cretaceous Period. ... Official language(s) English Capital Cheyenne Largest city Cheyenne Area  Ranked 10th  - Total 97,818 sq mi (253,348 km²)  - Width 280 miles (450 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 0. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Bambiraptor's specialised enlarged claw.

During the conference where Bambiraptor was first introduced, the dinosaur reconstruction specialist Brian Cooley portrayed Bambiraptor as having feathers, despite the fact that no feathers were found with the fossil itself. His decision was influenced by the cladistic viewpoint that because the skeletal structure of Bambiraptor closely resembled that of true birds, it must have had feathers due to phylogenetic bracketing. Most paleontologists support Cooley's view, and subsequent discoveries confirmed that small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs like Bambiraptor were fully covered in feathers (see Dromaeosauridae for more information). Image File history File links Bambiraptor_specialised_claw_(left_hind). ... Image File history File links Bambiraptor_specialised_claw_(left_hind). ... Closeup on a single white feather A feather is one of the epidermal growths that forms the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on a bird. ... It has been suggested that Clade be merged into this article or section. ... For other meanings of bird, see bird (disambiguation). ... Genera Achillobator Adasaurus Atrociraptor Bambiraptor Buitreraptor Cryptovolans Deinonychus Dromaeosaurus Dromaeosauroides Graciliraptor Microraptor Neuquenraptor Pyroraptor Rahonavis Saurornitholestes Sinornithosaurus Tsaagan Unenlagia Utahraptor Variraptor Velociraptor Dromaeosaurids, raptors or members of the family Dromaeosauridae (running lizards from Greek dromeus (δρομευς) meaning runner and sauros (σαυρος) meaning lizard) are theropod dinosaurs. ...

Bambiraptor model

Research done at Lamar State College in Orange, Texas has indicated that Bambiraptor may have had opposable front claws and a forelimb maneuverability that could reach its mouth. This would have given the animal the ability to "hold" food in its front limbs and place it in its mouth, in a similar manner to some modern-day small mammals. [2] Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 800 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution (1200 × 800 pixel, file size: 1. ... Orange is a city located in Orange County, Texas. ...

Bambiraptor had a brain size in the lower range of modern birds. Because of its enlarged cerebellum, which may indicate higher agility and higher intelligence than other dromaeosaurs, David A. Burnham has hypothesized that Bambiraptor feinbergi may have been arboreal. Life in the trees may have required evolutionary pressure that resulted in a larger brain. Burnham also offers an alternative hypothesis, that a larger brain could be selected for as a result of hunting more agile prey items such as lizards and mammals. Bambiraptor had the largest brain for its size of any dinosaur yet discovered, although the brain size may be due to its age, because juvenile animals tend to have larger brain-to-body ratios compared to adults. It also had very long arms and a well-developed wishbone. The cerebellum (Latin: little brain) is a region of the brain that plays an important role in the integration of sensory perception and motor output. ...

References

• Burnham, D. A. (2004). "New Information on Bambiraptor feinbergi from the Late Cretaceous of Montana", in Philip J. Currie, E.B. Koppelhus, M.A. Shugar, J.L. Wright (eds): Feathered Dragons: Studies on the Transition from Dinosaurs to Birds. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 67–111. ISBN 0-253-34373-9. 

External links

• See entry on Bambiraptor at DinoData (registration required, free)
• Details of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History exhibit (page 8)

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