Newly discovered dinosaur has a streamlined body like a diving bird

Corryn Wetzel is a writer.

A new species of dinosaur is the first to have a streamlined body similar to diving birds, but it is not a member of the feathered class of dinosaurs. Theropods were a group of hollow-boned dinosaurs that walked on two legs and ate meat.

It is the first case of a non-avian dinosaur showing a streamlined ribcage like those seen in modern semi-aquatic animals.

A skull, a spine column, a fore limb and two hind limbs were found in a fossil in the Gobi desert. A non-avian theropod had a sleek body and goose-like neck that was never seen before.

The rib orientation and shape show that the animal had a streamlined body. This shows that the new dinosaur was a skilled swimmer.

Researchers named the species Natovenator polydontus, which means swimming hunter with many teeth, after seeing the skull. The species lived between 100 million and 66 million years ago and ate fish and insects.

Halszkaraptor is a group of small non-avian dinosaurs with only one known species. Scientists have debated whether the Halszkaraptor was semi-aquatic since it was discovered. The similarities between the N. polydontus and the Halszkaraptor show that the Halszkaraptor was able to live on the water.

The discovery contributes to the solution of the controversial lifestyles of the dinosaurs.

The journal was titled Communications Biology and was published in 2003