Synchrotron sheds light on the amphibious lifestyle of a new raptorial dinosaur

An exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur skeleton from Mongolia unites an unexpected combination of features that defines a new group of semi-aquatic predators related to Velociraptor. Detailed 3D synchrotron analysis allowed an international team of researchers to present the bizarre 75 million-year-old predator, named Halszkaraptor escuilliei, in Nature. The study describes a new genus and species of bird-like dinosaur that lived during the Campanian stage of the Cretaceous in Mongolia and sheds light on an unexpected amphibious lifestyle for raptorial dinosaurs.