Science and Technology Production
Article
Authorship
Date
2026
Publishing House and Editing Place
Springer Nature
Magazine
The Science Of Nature
Springer Nature
Summary
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Megaraptorids constitute a distinctive clade of Cretaceous theropods that evolved a highly pneumatized and slender skeletons. Using recently published data and preliminary segmentations of computed tomography, the degree of pneumatization and body mass of megaraptorids was evaluated. CT data reveal that pneumatic cavities occupy up a huge proportion of vertebral volume, probably considerably reducing skeletal weight. Furthermore, Body mass estimations based on femoral and tibial circumference i...
Megaraptorids constitute a distinctive clade of Cretaceous theropods that evolved a highly pneumatized and slender skeletons. Using recently published data and preliminary segmentations of computed tomography, the degree of pneumatization and body mass of megaraptorids was evaluated. CT data reveal that pneumatic cavities occupy up a huge proportion of vertebral volume, probably considerably reducing skeletal weight. Furthermore, Body mass estimations based on femoral and tibial circumference indicate that megaraptorids was 40–70% lighter than theropods of similar length. This reduction in mass, combined with elongated hindlimbs and robust, grasping forelimbs, suggests a gracile or light type of predator. The progressive increase of pneumatization and lightness in derived taxa indicates an evolutionary trend toward a “gracile model” of large-bodied predation. Notwithstanding, a phylogenetically corrected regression indicates that this clade does not depart markedly from the overall body mass–body length relationship observed in other theropods. In this regard, these results identifies a potential anatomical and ecological signal, highlighting megaraptorids as a possible unique group among large theropods in contrast with the more massive-bodied clades such as abelisaurids, carcharodontosaurids, or tyrannosaurids
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Key Words
EvolucionMegaraptoraTheropodaAnatomía