What do you get when you combine a Velociraptor with a shorebird? The Natovenator polydontus (but I call it NP)! Its name means “swimming hunter with many teeth”, which gives you a clue of how unusual it is. It’s one of the first prehistoric meat-eaters ever found with two legs and a body optimized for swimming and diving!
We’re not sure when the NPs lived
The first remains of this unusual predator were discovered in a rock formation in Mongolia in 2008. The rock formation dates back about 70 million years, about five million years before the asteroid impact that reportedly wiped out the dinosaurs. But the fossil could be of the last NP that ever lived - or the first!
NPs could swim, dive, and walk…
NPs were originally thought to be lizards or mammals, but CT scans revealed it had a goose-like neck and a jaw tightly packed with teeth. These features suggest that NPs were more similar to predatory birds! Their anatomy is similar to both reptiles and diving birds, so some researchers believe that NPs could swim, dive, and walk on land.
…or could they?
Not all scientists agree that NPs could swim and dive. Some scientists believe that NPs’ small front legs couldn’t have overcome the drag from their long back legs when diving. According to this theory, it’s more likely that NPs floated on the water and dipped their head underwater to snag prey, like today’s ducks. NPs’ small, sharp teeth suggest that they ate fish, which could have been caught with this method!
A new dinosaur theory
The discovery that NPs were probably aquatic adds to a body of evidence that supports a new theory. Dinosaurs may have lived in a much wider range of ecosystems than paleontologists once thought. Instead of being limited to jungle habitats, dinosaurs probably also lived in deserts, tundras, and the ocean!
Not all dinosaurs were “terrible lizards” - dinosaurs like NPs are fascinating, and they probably wouldn’t have bothered you unless you were a tasty fish! NPs are just one example of the unusual dinosaurs paleontologist are researching. If you’re ready to discover more prehistoric wonders, you’ll love these eight bizarre dinosaurs! 👓