The Concavenator is a relatively recent addition to the dinosaur kingdom. Found in Spain, this dinosaur had a number of specific characteristics that make it truly unique.
Living in the early Cretaceous period, around 130 million years ago, Concav, as we will now refer to them, was a medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur. A fully grown adult would be about 20 feet long and weighed about 2 to 3 tons. The Concavs were part of the carcharondontosaurian family, which is not the easiest word to pronounce.
Concav had two outstanding characteristics that have generated a lot of interest from experts around the world. The first were the two unusual vertebrae in front of his hips that would have looked like a small pointed ridge and it has been suggested that this would have supported a large hump. Usually for dinosaur re-creations there have been alternative theories about the purpose of the crest / hump. Standard opinions are that this was used as a display feature in courtship, with the potential for multiple colors shining in a candle, or that it was in fact simply used to regulate body temperature. The second, and perhaps more important, feature of this dinosaur was the amazing structures on its forearms that resemble knobs on its feathers.
Feather knobs are generally associated with birds, however some theropods, such as the Velociraptor, also shared these structures and it is theorized, and generally accepted, that such dinosaurs were distant relatives to modern birds. It is important to note that most dinosaurs went extinct in a probable meteorite impact on earth, which means that the Tyrannosaurus Rex and many other dinosaurs are not related to modern birds. Until the Concavenator was found, dinosaurs from that distant period were not known to have such characteristics and it could mean that evolution from dinosaur to bird began much earlier than previously thought. There is a lot of skepticism regarding this theory and many experts believe that these structures were, in fact, not pen buttons, yet there has not yet been a proper analysis to support one theory or another.
Concavenator has surprised many experts and only shows how little we have left to learn about dinosaurs. There are some great images of Concav recreations that can be found in dinosaur books and online. The Safari brand has created a brilliant model that is worth checking out.
No Comment