Impurest's Guide to Animals #66 - Balaur bondoc

Well here it is, the End of April, and out first (and only) dinosaur issue all because of @ostyo, and a promise I made about doing this issue if I could get blood from a stone. Little did I know that Pyura chilensis can do just that, curse that bleeding creature. Anyways enjoy this primeval issue of Impurest’s Guide to Animals.

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Issue #66 - Balaur bondoc

Kingdom – Animalia

Phylum – Chordata

[Clade]* – Dinosauria

Order – Therepoda

[Clade]* – Eumaniraptora

Genus – Balaur

Species – bondoc

Due to recent genetic and fossil evidence, the taxonomic placement of all dinosaurs, particularly the Dromeosaurs is under review

Related Species - Balaur is a dromaeosaurid, and is more closely related to Velociraptor mongoliensis then it is to Deinonychus antirrhopus

Range - Fossils of Balaur date back to the late Cretaceous (approximately 70 Million Years Ago) and is found in the Hateg Island Fossil Formation in Romania (1)

Enter the Stocky Dragon

Fossil evidence, shows that Balaur was between 1.8m to 2.1m in length, a similar length to its relative Velociraptor, although the former was far more stocky then the later, with shorter legs, but far more powerful muscle attachments connected to the creatures pelvis. While most Dromaeosaurids had three clawed hands, Balaurs fingers and claws were reduced, with the species only supporting two erupted digits. That said the arms of Balaur were more muscled than similar sized dinosaurs, and it’s been speculated that the species was feathered.

Despite its relatively small size, Balaur is at current the largest theropod found in the Hateg Island formation, and judging from the size of the prey items, and was likely the apex predator of the ecosystem. When on the attack Balaur probablyused its stocky legs and the trademark dromaeosaur sickle claw on the second toe, to pin prey. This claw worked in concert with the claw on the first toe (2), also enlarged into a sickle as Balaur beat its arms against the prey, potentially to stun it or to keep the raptor from being bucked off by its struggling prey.

The first fossil evidence of Balaur was identified in 2009, from a partial skeleton containing the foot and the arm. The species was named later that year, after the Romanian word for dragon ‘Balaur’ and the Turkish word ‘Bondoc’ which translates to stocky. Since much of the Hateg Island fossil bed contains unique species, it’s probable the Balaur was only found in this particular island.

Paleoecology: Five Species from Hateg Island

Hateg Island, was a site where the effects of insular dwarfism, is seen through a large swathe of the fauna present in the fossil record (3). As such the unique fauna differed from their ancestors in mainland Europe and Asia, not just in appearance but size as well.

Hatzegopteryx thambema - While most of the dinosaurs had reduced in size, the pterosaurs of Hateg Island increased in size. With a wingspan of 12m, and a head with the length of 3m, Hatzegopteryx was the largest predator on the island, and probably fed on all the species present at Hateg Island.

Magyarosaurus dacus­ - The largest herbivore on Hateg Island, Magyarosaurus reached a length of 6m and a weight of a ton. To protect itself from predation, this species had dermal plates of armour set in its skin as a passive defence to deter predators such as Balaur and Hatzegopteryx

Struthiosaurus transylvanicus - A squat armoured ankylosaur, Struthiosaurus was only 2m in length, although well protected thanks to rows of armoured plates and spines arranged down its body.

Telmatosaurus transylvanicus - The first dwarf dinosaur, discovered in 1895, Telmatosaurus was a five meter, half ton hadrosaur. Evidence found in France and Spain is attributed to full sized members of this genus, although the validity of these finds is yet to be confirmed.

Zalmoxes robustus - Named after an ancient Dacian god, at 3m in length, Zalmoxes is an descendent of a species that exhibited island gigantism. Current fossil finds of Zalmoxes suggest that the species was the same size as relatives found on mainland Europe and North America

Bibliography

1 - http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/08/31/scientists-unveil-new-and-improved-velociraptor-cousin/

2 - Csiki, Z.; Vremir, M.; Brusatte, S. L.; Norell, M. A. (2010-08-17). "An aberrant island-dwelling theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania". Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci.107 (35): 15357–61. doi:10.1073/pnas.1006970107. PMC 2932599. PMID 20805514. Retrieved2010-09-0

3 - Benton, M.J., Csiki, Z., Grigorescu, D., Redelstorff, R., Sander, P.M., Stein, K., and Weishampel, D.B. (2010). "Dinosaurs and the island rule: The dwarfed dinosaurs from Haţeg Island." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 293(3-4): 438–454

Picture References

1 - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Balaur_bondoc.jpg

2 - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ytIpu2f_MQ4/TnVYtW2TGMI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/aS8HsYucf90/s1600/Hateg.png

3 - http://public.media.smithsonianmag.com/legacy_blog/Balaur-skeleton.jpg

4 - http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130608232243/shipoffools/images/4/48/Hatzegopteryx.jpg

And that is the only dinosaur issue, ever to appear in this blog (categorizing it in Impurest’s Bestiary is sure to be a headache). Speaking of heads, next weeks issue brings the us a set of jaws so large they cause it to experience physical recoil, But until then critic, comment and drop us a species you want covered in future issues.

Many Thanks

Impurest Cheese

@cbishop,@laflux,@ostyo,@wildvine,@darling_luna,@samimista,@cattlebattle,@xwraith, @cgoodness,@mslola,@squares,@scorpion2501,@darthaznable,@scattered316,@bumpyboo, @knightsofdarkness2, @wolverine08,@dboyrules2011,@joshuadbr,@nighthunder,@johnjo719,@itsomething,@delphic, @dngn4774,@bruxae,@jaken7,@ccraft,@wim_garnet,@claymore1998,@ironspiderchan45, @dccomicsrule2011,@hylian,@transcendence,@rd189,@unbreakable_fs4,@quinnofthestoneage, @fuzzylittlerodent,@the_kidd,@rd189,@thetruebarryallen, @thevivas, @korrasami,@swordmasterd,@veitha, @thedandyman and @wolfkeepadri

As promised a dinosaur issue....

That's awesome! great job.

@wolfkeepadri: Cool, thanks for the comment :-)

It's so cute :D

@hylian: Yeah in the 'I'm going to maul you to death' kind of way

@impurestcheese: I would love to have on as a pet

Ooooooh fluffy chicken : P

Beautiful.

@fuzzylittlerodent: Tis fabulous indeed :-D

@darling_luna: Yeah a chicken with a mouthful of teeth and a really bad attitude

@dboyrules2011: Hmm I guess

@hylian:Strikes me as something that would come under the Dangerous Animals Act TBH

@impurestcheese: They don't need to know

@hylian: Yes they do!!

@impurestcheese: SHHHH!!!! You'll ruin for me

@impurestcheese: I've got my t-rex ready to protect me

@impurestcheese: Sarcasm, mate hehe.

@impurestcheese: Hehe true.

@impurestcheese: That's what makes the internet awesome heh heh.

The Hatzegopteryx thambema looks cute

Cool, this was unexpected.

@the_kidd: No problem, it's a one of issue I had to do after I made a stupid promise about getting blood from a stone

@veitha:You do realise it has a skull that's over 3m in length right?

can you please tag me in the future

Snap I remember watching something on Discovery about that island, and the Balaur looks delicious.

:D

Nice! Dinosaurs are always interesting.

@infinityball: Can do

@bruxae: Yeah before I went down the ecology route I was dinosaur mad, in part I blame a certain film for that

@ostyo: Hmm

@cgoodness:Hmm that's good to know. Also leave Balaur alone...

@impurestcheese: So awesome. Thanks, red. :)

@impurestcheese: Yeah! Now off I ride with my trained Balaur!

@impurestcheese: yeah but he looks like a pokemon ahahahhah

@veitha: 85% of the animals I cover look like Pokémon though

I wonder how it would taste

@ironspiderchan45: Probably like a cross between game and crocodile

I suspect getting torn apart by this creature wouldn't be very fun.

Different road you took here, but just as enjoyable as the other adventures you take us on. Very, very interesting.

@ms-lola: Finally someone gets that its not just a fluffy chicken or an adorable pet. It's a lethal killing machine that hunts human sized prey.

And yes the road is different but luckily it's a one time detour. The normal service will be resumed next Wednesday

Epic lethal killing machine, but its kinda cute

@rd189: Ooh, ah that's how it always starts, but then comes the running and the screaming