Why Did Raptors Have ‘Terrible Claws’?

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 657

  • @madama3844
    @madama3844 3 ปีที่แล้ว +112

    I knew utahraptors were big but knowing that theyre bigger than polar bears suddenly put them into perspective

    • @athos9293
      @athos9293 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Imagine hugging it on the belly

    • @kevinavila7551
      @kevinavila7551 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I’m saying! They were massive.

    • @Someone-wall
      @Someone-wall 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

      ​@@athos9293I like the way you think

    • @athos9293
      @athos9293 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +3

      @@Someone-wall yes, all wide and smooth and feathery and warm and soft belly (would have to train them to let hug or put hand)

  • @d.c.monday4153
    @d.c.monday4153 4 ปีที่แล้ว +316

    They have terrible claws because they never cut them or file them smooth. No chiropodists or podiatrists in those days you see.

    • @jl.7739
      @jl.7739 4 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      Now I imagine raptors with fancy glitter toenail extensions. You know that’s what some people would do if you could have them as pets today.

    • @giovannicruz2645
      @giovannicruz2645 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@jl.7739 lmao they run up to a raptor and knock it out and keep it in a jurrasic park cage lol

    • @oerlikon20mm29
      @oerlikon20mm29 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@jl.7739 oh I know a few girls with things like that, I often wonder how they wipe themselves after using the bathroom

  • @joakos1122
    @joakos1122 4 ปีที่แล้ว +269

    I think Komodo dragons are a good analogy for how some species have juveniles that are mostly arboreal but become terrestrial as they age

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 ปีที่แล้ว +92

      Yes that's good point I didn't think of that

    • @TheDcraft
      @TheDcraft 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      There's bears.

    • @raptor5034
      @raptor5034 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@mothlightmedia1936 hi i watch your channel

  • @batspidey7611
    @batspidey7611 4 ปีที่แล้ว +834

    Getting eaten alive by a dinosaurified bird of prey is much more scary than a giant bipedal lizard trying to slash you with its claws.

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 ปีที่แล้ว +169

      I thought so too

    • @williamjordan5554
      @williamjordan5554 4 ปีที่แล้ว +30

      Bears do it too.

    • @IRex-wm9pd
      @IRex-wm9pd 4 ปีที่แล้ว +74

      I'll pass on both thanks.

    • @aboomination897
      @aboomination897 4 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      i'd hate to be in any of those situations

    • @567secret
      @567secret 4 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      All birds of prey are dinosaurs.

  • @timjung640
    @timjung640 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1111

    Criminally underrated and overlooked channel.

    • @djpagla1294
      @djpagla1294 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      True

    • @djpagla1294
      @djpagla1294 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Disapointing

    • @pldcanfly
      @pldcanfly 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      There ya go :) 100!

    • @James-yl6zm
      @James-yl6zm 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Criminally is overuse as a word FOR this

    • @ProximaCentauri88
      @ProximaCentauri88 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      What would be "overrated"? PBS and How To Be Smart?

  • @hankskorpio5857
    @hankskorpio5857 4 ปีที่แล้ว +298

    Whats with the lil oblong dot in the upper left center of the screen?

    • @Narglestopia
      @Narglestopia 4 ปีที่แล้ว +102

      I kept trying to wipe it off 😅

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 ปีที่แล้ว +151

      I know what they are now. They're an editing error. They turn into the green lines on the map and they should be triggered to turn on at the moment the map came on but i must have missed them while checking the video over so they play about 40 seconds early. There's not much I can do about it now haha, hopefully they weren't too annoying

    • @yerokaasregor
      @yerokaasregor 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

      I didn’t even notice it until I seen your comment, thanks a lot I can’t stop looking at it now😅😂😂

    • @watchdealer11
      @watchdealer11 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@mothlightmedia1936 You are a thorough, dude. I would've been happy with "it was an error" 😂

    • @bobbymobay
      @bobbymobay 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      I've been trying to clean the screen for 5 minutes.......lol.....before realizing.....lol!

  • @jeremycanard5420
    @jeremycanard5420 4 ปีที่แล้ว +66

    This differential flight theory based on age development is interesting. My chickens when young flew onto shed tops and low tree branches. Now older they are more ground based.

    • @ninjadogs3389
      @ninjadogs3389 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      I was thinking this same thing, and while the adult chickens can still get some good height (one of my girls likes to fly up to my shoulder) she could definitely fly a lot better when she was a young chick.

  • @rjcmick
    @rjcmick 4 ปีที่แล้ว +226

    the thought that baby raptors flew around while the adults hunted on the ground is so cool to me.

    • @johndoherty487
      @johndoherty487 4 ปีที่แล้ว +62

      They lacked the wing length and breast muscles to be capable of lifting off or maintaining flight. But they could have shortly glided from tree to tree.

    • @rjcmick
      @rjcmick 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@johndoherty487 oh dang :(

    • @garethbaus5471
      @garethbaus5471 4 ปีที่แล้ว +47

      More like the baby's would probably have the ability use their wings as a climbing assist and could possibly glide from a high point to avoid a predator if necessary but still cool.

    • @Dragrath1
      @Dragrath1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      while the big raptors probably couldn't fly there are some close relatives like microraptor which were much better proportioned for flight. Also even if they did fly since they are bipedal lift would likely have been initiated from their legs as this seems to be a conserved property among known vertebrates with powered flight wing muscles are for maintaining flight.
      Regardless Dromaeosauridae as a whole tended to be very close to the thresholds for powered flight with some species supporting the proportions and musculature to potentially fly but those were much smaller dromaeosaurs which morphologically seem to have had their claws much more strongly adapted for climbing and or perching rather than piercing. It thus is still a possibility some might have flown perhaps as transitional species between the arboreal hunters that were likely predominately insectivores and the larger ground dwelling hunters more likely to go after larger vertebrate prey

    • @marinomele4575
      @marinomele4575 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      This is actually a quite popular theory. Especially if you think the implication this has: raptor chicks hid on tree branches, while their mum hunts - something like cheetahs can do.
      This would've been a simple yet great way to improve their offspring survivability, keeping the younglings safe.
      Yet... sadly... this is pure speculation... especially because there's no proof of them being even semi-arboreal in any shape or form.

  • @sleestakmcbong7593
    @sleestakmcbong7593 4 ปีที่แล้ว +186

    Sounds very plausible! Young monitor lizards and even Komodo Dragons spend their youth on trees and the bigger they get the less they spent their times being arboreal.

    • @alicewilloughby4318
      @alicewilloughby4318 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sleestak McBong, I didn't know this and it's really interesting!

    • @VenomQuill
      @VenomQuill 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Isn't it because older dragons will eat them? Wouldn't it be fascinating if young raptors had to climb away from established raptors, and could only come down and join hunts as adults that were too big to be eaten by other raptors?

  • @GerardWay4President
    @GerardWay4President 4 ปีที่แล้ว +291

    I wouldn’t mind having the chicken-sized raptor as a pet. I shall name him Pokey.

    • @jaisanatanrashtra7035
      @jaisanatanrashtra7035 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      Also it can kill small kids in you house 😂 so nice pets they are 😁

    • @barryhumphreys2083
      @barryhumphreys2083 4 ปีที่แล้ว +24

      Pokey says my owner was tasty.

    • @windhelmguard5295
      @windhelmguard5295 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

      @@jaisanatanrashtra7035
      so can cats and dogs.

    • @HowlingWolf518
      @HowlingWolf518 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I'd go with Petey myself.

    • @jl.7739
      @jl.7739 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Can I strap one of my old Dinoriders figures on its back?

  • @stevenkobb156
    @stevenkobb156 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    This reminds me of Komodo dragons. When young, they are agile climbers, which helps them avoid being eaten by adults. When grown, they are too heavy to climb.

  • @drobvensick
    @drobvensick 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    Is it possible that some of them hunt like leopard dropping from trees as form of ambush attacks?

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 ปีที่แล้ว +18

      I haven't seen a study looking into that but that sounds highly plausible

    • @WaterShowsProd
      @WaterShowsProd 4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      This method would also be a good explanation of their arm feathers as they could use them to control their descent, and change their trajectory. There was a study about dinosaurs using arm feathers to help it climb trees, studying they way flightless birds flapped their wings to help them climb. I think this all ties together rather neatly.

  • @RCSVirginia
    @RCSVirginia 4 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    "Grandmother, what big claws you have."
    "The better to tear you apart, my dear."

    • @Phoenixash-delfuego
      @Phoenixash-delfuego 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      "Grandmother, what big claws you have."
      "Stop your cheek young lady and keep rubbing my feet."

  • @Toumoriryuu
    @Toumoriryuu 4 ปีที่แล้ว +35

    That has got to be the STRANGEST graphic I have ever seen in a video at around 7:05. Go back a couple of minutes and you can watch a small black smudge on the video through many many graphics until it finally just expands into a dot and a label... why? What did I just watch? I am so distracted by it that I am having trouble returning to the video...

    • @adhdhikaru
      @adhdhikaru 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Sen-Yuan Li maybe an editing error?

    • @easportsaxb8057
      @easportsaxb8057 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Dude it's just an editing error it's not that bad

    • @27olo27
      @27olo27 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@easportsaxb8057 That was pretty weirdly distracting. Wasn't sure if I was the only one to see that. I thought my screen was dirty. Started around 5:30

    • @easportsaxb8057
      @easportsaxb8057 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@27olo27 I didn't notice it that much, but the first time I watched this video I viewed in on my phone, and when I watched it again on my laptop I already knew about the editing error, so it still didn't annoy me too much. But honestly, it's not that big of a deal.

    • @Archimedes.5000
      @Archimedes.5000 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Also happens from about 10:35, and then it becomes part of the map

  • @ZetaFuzzMachine
    @ZetaFuzzMachine 4 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    We seriously need an analysis on bipedal tree climbing!
    My guess is that the sickle claw developed exclusively to climb. That would have made small raptors able to easily escape danger by going up a tree, and while they were there, gave them the ability to perform ambushes.
    Then the trait was kept around as it was a really useful for many purposes. What you guys think?

  • @TyrannoKoenigsegg
    @TyrannoKoenigsegg 4 ปีที่แล้ว +53

    Love how one of the contributors are Ken Ham

    • @mariog9202
      @mariog9202 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      dude ik right lol i noticed that and got confused.

    • @suvidani
      @suvidani 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I was listening, I was like wtf? :D Someone has a great sense of humor.

    • @colinmitchell4859
      @colinmitchell4859 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Me, too. That is absolutely hillarious!

    • @Josh-rn1em
      @Josh-rn1em 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      That's a name I haven't heard for many a year.

  • @matthiasfloren2610
    @matthiasfloren2610 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Way more scary than jp.
    Being eaten alive with that raptorial stare

    • @eliteecho9383
      @eliteecho9383 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The first movie gave an impression of being eaten alive, the other two not so much.

    • @matthiasfloren2610
      @matthiasfloren2610 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@eliteecho9383 I know that. But I keep the jp raptors seperate from the accurate ones. I do not want to beat that dead horse again. They eat their victims alive but they slice them open first also terrifying.

    • @williamjordan5554
      @williamjordan5554 4 ปีที่แล้ว

      Grizzlies do that too.

  • @weemissile
    @weemissile 3 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    "So were those big sickle claws used as weapons?"
    "No, but actually yes."

  • @bkjeong4302
    @bkjeong4302 4 ปีที่แล้ว +48

    Many extant predators actually do kill prey multiple times their size.
    In regards to dromaeosaur mobility, while dromeosaurs weren't especially fast for theropods, to argue they were incapable of extended pursuit takes things too far in the other direction. That has much more to do with aerobic capability, and in that aspect dromeosaurs aren't any worse than other theropods, and far better than ambush specialists such as cats.
    I see mustelids as the best mammalian analogue to dromaeosaurs; like dromaeosaurs, mustelids hunt alone (with some exceptions in both clades), punch quite above their weight, can grapple, and can run down prey extended distances despite not being cursorial animals. Basically Deinonychus is the dromaeosaur version of Megalictis.....

    • @littlesaresare
      @littlesaresare 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      He said that the evidence for raptors hunting animals larger than them suggests that the claw maybe wasn't used to restrain those animals to be eaten while still alive. Never once did he claim that no living predators ever kill prey bigger than them. In fact he then gave examples of living predators killing prey that is larger than them! Sounds you like you're too keen on sounding smarter to actually care what he said.

  • @kuprukuula
    @kuprukuula 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    The secretary bird's stomp might also be one way these claws were used

  • @johninitaly
    @johninitaly 4 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    My understanding is that modern eagles, owls, etc have very powerful feet with sharp claws that they kill by piercing and damaging damaging internal organs.

  • @emilhagberg4405
    @emilhagberg4405 4 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Dont forget how haasts eagle hunted moas!

    • @lexobischof7069
      @lexobischof7069 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Wtf a wing span of 3 meters well I’m out

    • @bkjeong4302
      @bkjeong4302 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Haast’s eagles even went after the largest moa; there is skeletal evidence of this actually happening (moa remains showing massive wounds and gauges from eagle talons).

  • @rybavresu9917
    @rybavresu9917 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I think all is clawsible.

  • @Kwodlibet
    @Kwodlibet 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    It's all rather plausible - or maybe even "clawsible" ?😉👌
    I've always had a feeling that pack hunting, turkey-sized, raptors were largely responsible for evolution of armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus - some of them developed armored eyelids... what for? To protect from a bite of a large theropod? No way. That would make little to no difference, but a determined "pecking" by dozens of claws - sure.

  • @oddityurie3435
    @oddityurie3435 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Many prehistoric animals behave very similarily to animals in modern day and it kinda makes sense since if somethings works then it will surely be used and repeated over and over again, which basically summarizes one of the main reasons why animals and organisms evolve

  • @aikhis
    @aikhis 4 ปีที่แล้ว +92

    Lol I love the sponsor who is using the name Ken Ham. Lol to use a fervent anti-evolution, Bible thumping, ark encounter building, creationist to sponsor video's about evolution makes me chuckle every time I see it.

    • @kai_plays_khomus
      @kai_plays_khomus 4 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Just wanted to write the same.
      Using this name to support a channel about evolution deserves applause!
      Oh how I wish the real Ken Ham would know about this! It's expert level mocking. Maybe it should be considered to name a transitional species after him too..

    • @kovinar25
      @kovinar25 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      😂😂

    • @heyzues8363
      @heyzues8363 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@kai_plays_khomus, something obnoxious and simple, Ken haminus simplus rusticus.

    • @mathewadams2929
      @mathewadams2929 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I noticed that too. Epic trolling for the win.

    • @derekk.2263
      @derekk.2263 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      They built the creation museum 6 miles from the house I grew up in. Most people in the area think it's ridiculous and having gone one time on a free day I know have a fervent hatred for creationism.
      Not that they make anything close to a convincing argument but it's enough to train kids out of critical thinking and stunt the numbers of future scientists.

  • @thelonerider9693
    @thelonerider9693 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    "You alive when they start to eat you... so try to show a little respect".
    Well Jurassic Park got one thing right, apparently!

  • @abdulazizrex
    @abdulazizrex 4 ปีที่แล้ว +37

    I think that the idea of raptors disemboweling their prey comes from human comparison! It definitely looks like larger raptor species like deinonychus and Utahraptor would be capable of slashing through the soft flesh of humans, that is if they ever came across us! It is definitely not the usual case with their usual thick hided dinosaur prey.

    • @felix25ize
      @felix25ize 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Biomechanical experiences has been made , showing that the famous terrible claws of dromeosaurs were not even able to tear bacon rind; then the scaly or feathered skin of others dinosaurs ... In fact, it was most probably principally used to grasp and maintain the prey while the animal bited it. and if the claw could be keeped up when running, it was just to avoid damaging it on the ground, cats have retractable claws for the same reason.

  • @trvth1s
    @trvth1s 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Maybe the claw is multipurpose. Feline claws are curved like raptor claws. Cats use their claws to climb, to grip prey and to slice/slash eachother or an attacker.

  • @kazkk2321
    @kazkk2321 4 ปีที่แล้ว +23

    It's amazing how little we know and how difficult it is to interpret the past

    • @garethbaus5471
      @garethbaus5471 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Depends on how far back you want to go.

    • @ctchulk
      @ctchulk 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      and amazing how much we have pieced together

  • @derrickbonsell
    @derrickbonsell 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    This is probably the best evolution/paleobiology channel on TH-cam.

  • @ivanclark2275
    @ivanclark2275 3 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    It kinda reminds me of the hook on the end of a lot of modern raptor’s beaks. Maybe comparison of those two features could have interesting results. I wonder if the shape of the claw strongly correlates to diet.

  • @OdeeOz
    @OdeeOz 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    That terrible claw, it is being found, was used to puncture the throat area of a victim. As you show a couple minutes into the video. Well done!

  • @jaisanatanrashtra7035
    @jaisanatanrashtra7035 4 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    The size comparison you are showing in your recent videos are awesome continue with it 👍
    8:36
    7:55
    0:46
    3:24
    5:04
    9:17
    9:50

  • @meeriniemi
    @meeriniemi 4 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    So interesting and well explained, thank you!

  • @agusvilorio2267
    @agusvilorio2267 4 ปีที่แล้ว +57

    The Comodo Dragon is arboreal when young and terrestrial when adult. The same as the Deinonychus might have been.

    • @easportsaxb8057
      @easportsaxb8057 4 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      *Komodo

    • @JohnDrummondPhoto
      @JohnDrummondPhoto 3 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      Juvenile Komodo dragons have to be arboreal, or their gigantic adult brethren would prey on them. Similarly, juvenile crocs stay in shallow waters, away from their adult relatives (not including their mothers, who actively guard their hatchlings for months).

    • @thefisherking78
      @thefisherking78 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      That was my first thought when he raised this idea. They might have climbed up for safety but also had/developed the ability to glide down.

    • @thefisherking78
      @thefisherking78 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Ken Ham 😂😂😂😂😂😂

  • @ericdebord
    @ericdebord 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    That claw is for climbing trees.
    Same kinda spur is on line man boots to climb poles.

  • @galloe8933
    @galloe8933 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    I would have never guessed they used their cycle claws brutally restrain their prey and eat them alive. Raptors are pretty rock and roll.

    • @shawnwales696
      @shawnwales696 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I think you probably meant sickle noy cycle.

    • @galloe8933
      @galloe8933 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Christ dude, I think you're right but I can never edit out such a well intentioned yet confusing typo.
      Also, "cycle" was clearly not the word I was trying to type but I didn't change it... I think I was having a stroke.

  • @kotarojujo2737
    @kotarojujo2737 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Dakoraptor proportional and size really fit in the Jurassic Park's Raptor

  • @ethribin4188
    @ethribin4188 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My theory is that Raptors, just like birds of prey, used their claws to grip their prey. But not yo restrain their prey, but to keep themselves held onto their prey.
    Theyd then keep attacking and hurting it, tiering it out, till it collapses.
    Hunting animals bigger then the predator is often done by the hunter tiering out their prey and excausting them until they collaps.
    Ancient humans hunted that way. By being more efficient with body tempreature regulation,and having a jogging speed just above the galop threshhold, and being the most endurance marathon runners in the animal kingdom, humans chassed their prey down until it collapsed from excaustion.
    Maybe raptors did it similarly.
    Just instead of beating their prey in a deadly marathon, theyd cling onto it, bite and claw at it, or just add weight and panic their prey, until it collapsed from excaustion.
    And just how humans evolved to sweat in order to matathon their prey to death, raptors developed their claws to grip onto their prey and just not let go.

  • @windhelmguard5295
    @windhelmguard5295 4 ปีที่แล้ว +27

    my hypothesis is that raptors, instead of trying to actually kill larger prey animals, would just feed on the animal while it was still alive and trying to shake them off, with those claws they could simply hold on while feeding.
    hell it might have even been common for a raptor to attack a large animal and getting it's fill, wile the prey animal survived and made a full recovery.

    • @kylecollier2285
      @kylecollier2285 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Sesshomaru Uzumaki that is true, especially since the prey could die from infection from numerous bite wounds by Dromaeosaurs. So perhaps Dromaeosaurs were like ninja versions of Komodo Dragons. Holding onto prey with their claws on their hands and feet and using numerous bites to not only consume their prey alive, but even after the attack the prey would've died from infection, and one way or another either the same raptors or another pack of raptors will come across the dead or dying animal and proceed to consume it.

    • @tachyonicnewt2473
      @tachyonicnewt2473 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This is what I thought, though I have not seen much evidence for or against it.

    • @windhelmguard5295
      @windhelmguard5295 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@kylecollier2285 well most crocodiles can handle getting a leg ripped of while swimming through muddy, luke warm bogs of almost stagnant water, getting all sorts of dirt in the wound, without getting an infection and since crocodiles are closely related to dinosaurs (more so than actual lizards) it would be reasonable for large dinosaurs to have a similar trait.

    • @bkjeong4302
      @bkjeong4302 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Eating larger prey alive is reasonable but I doubt the prey would survive for more than an hour at most.

    • @jacoblewis5230
      @jacoblewis5230 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@kylecollier2285 The problem with that is because now a days monitor lizards like the Komodo Dragon are now considered venomous since venom glands on their lower jaws. you can look it up for more info.

  • @planescaped
    @planescaped 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    My immediate thoughts were that it was for gripping or climbing.

    • @davidletasi3322
      @davidletasi3322 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Recent studies have shown that the distal phalynx on the second pedal digit attached to the killer claw of the Velociraptor family has a thickened posterior ventral heal similar to those found in climbing birds like wood peckers. Sone researchers are starting to suggest that the smaller velociraptors like V. mongolensis and Bambiraptor were small tree hoppers specializing in catching lizards, tree frogs, small birds and insects. The larger raptorial dinosaurs like Dakotaraptor, Utahraptor and Deinonychus are in the same family as Dromaeosaurus and were most likely open ground runners hunting larger prey. However it's still interesting that the fighting dinosaur specimens from Mongolia discovered by the Polish expedition of 1971 uncovered the interaction between Protoceratops and Velociraptor.

  • @derekk.2263
    @derekk.2263 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I really have to believe at least some raptors hunted in flocks. Wolves take down very large animals by latching on with their jaws and once enough wolves grab their prey they can pull it down. I see multiple velociraptors jumping on the back of a protoceratops and hanging on with their mouths and claws until there are enough to force it down to the ground.

  • @uggligr
    @uggligr 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I think Tyrannosaurus needed it's tiny arms when a juvenile and that's why the arms did not evolve away. They just became semi-useless for the adults.

  • @darth856
    @darth856 4 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I never would have imagined as a kid that many dinosaurs had feathers. But I have to say they look pretty cool.

    • @caniform-craze2080
      @caniform-craze2080 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Dinosaurs closest to the bird lineage definitely had feathers, (most) dinosaurs from other clades though likely didn't have any feathers until evidence suggests otherwise ofc.

    • @fruitylerlups530
      @fruitylerlups530 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@caniform-craze2080 i wonder if feathers evolved before or after the birth of the theropods?

    • @caniform-craze2080
      @caniform-craze2080 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@fruitylerlups530 there is evidence to suggest the former.

  • @easportsaxb8057
    @easportsaxb8057 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    0:10 It's not "Dienonychus" it's "Deinonychus". Otherwise excellent video!

  • @shadowraith1
    @shadowraith1 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Interesting speculation. I do wonder if we will ever develop the sciences enough to actually know?

  • @crmesson22k
    @crmesson22k 4 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    Do you mean Dr. Alan Grant was lying to the kids the whole time. Lol

    • @mothlightmedia1936
      @mothlightmedia1936  4 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      don't even get me started on T. Rex eyesight being based on movement

    • @barryhumphreys2083
      @barryhumphreys2083 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Moth Light Media I know exactly what you mean.

    • @derrickbonsell
      @derrickbonsell 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      When Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park the idea of feathered dinosaurs was fringe at best. When the movie was being made feathered dinosaurs were starting to be accepted but the general public still thought of dinosaurs as having scaly skin. Since the first movie went with scaly dinosaurs, the rest of the franchise stuck with what went before.

    • @garethbaus5471
      @garethbaus5471 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@mothlightmedia1936 in the book the movement based eyesight was a side effect of the frog dna and was inferred by dr grant when he saw a tyrannosaur ignore something it should have clearly seen l. But in the movie that was very poorly done.

    • @shawnwales696
      @shawnwales696 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Jeez, a fictional character in a fictional book giving out outdated information. Shocking!

  • @symbiosister
    @symbiosister 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    this is really good work - I've been watching a lot of dinosaur and prehistory themed channels lately and this is probably one of the most in-depth and interesting videos I've seen. Keep this up, please

  • @jackhartley8996
    @jackhartley8996 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Komodo Dragons live semi arboreal lives as juveniles and only become terrestrial once the fear of becoming prey lessons. One example of how an animals lifestyle can change as the grow in size.

  • @greenman5555
    @greenman5555 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Climbing on large prey would be helpful. They may have lived like komodo dragons. The smaller individuals would live in trees to avoid larger predators.

  • @steveclapper5424
    @steveclapper5424 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    It always struck me as a climbing tool.

  • @Master_Yoda1990
    @Master_Yoda1990 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I agree more with the claw being used to grip prey. It seems more likely or maybe all those theories being right as the claw could have performed multiple tasks.

    • @toastymctoastface7532
      @toastymctoastface7532 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      most likely different species of raptor used their claws for different things. If you look at Utahraptor's claw, you will see how much more straight it is, less like a sickle and more like a dagger. This combined with he fact that Utahraptor had lots of muscle in its legs, plus the prey it hunted(megafauna like Iguanadon, Gastonia, sauropods) seems to me that utahraptor used them like a roman gladius. This is just my take, and we will most likely never know the answer

  • @TheDuvee6
    @TheDuvee6 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have the feeling raptors killing Protoceratops and Tenontosaurus were very rare occurrences. In this same way lions are known to bring down elephants or giraffes when they are desperately starving.

  • @abdulazizrex
    @abdulazizrex 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Please do a video specifically focusing on social behavior and pack hunting in raptors??

  • @sevehayden1463
    @sevehayden1463 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I'm thinking of the baseline raptor claw as kind of a multitool. Sometimes a climbing aid (mostly in small species/young individuals) used for multiple kinds of hunting depending on what opportunities present themselves and sometimes even used for some edge uses like breaking open insect nests. Some raptors specialize a bit and focus more on one kind of claw use, while others kinda act like a carnivorous jack of all trades, varying between hunting small animals, scavenging, and sometimes possibly going after a larger meal.
    One fossil I hope will be discovered is something that seems like it was killed by a small raptor dropping from a tree. It'd be evidence for both the climbing theory and kinda one of the hunting theories, in addition to showing an interesting behavior.
    If there is a way to show for sure that some dromaeosaurids actually hunted things much larger than themselves instead of just scavenging, it'd be evidence (not proof) of at least a bit of cooperation, I think. Even if you can take something that big down, there's little point if you're chased away from it by another predator or the meat spoils before you can get that much out of it. Predators tend to only hunt things worth the risk, and it's more likely to be worth the risk if the kill can be defended and there's more than one dinosaur eating from it. Even if there's no dedicated family groups/packs it would be beneficial for small dinosaurs of the same species to band together briefly to defend a large source of food, even if there isn't any cooperative hunting.

  • @DanielThorntonPortfolio
    @DanielThorntonPortfolio 3 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    "there are no animals today that could be compared with such a strange set of life stages!"
    Butterflies: wtf bro

  • @Hysterically_Accurate
    @Hysterically_Accurate 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I wonder if dromeosaurids behaved in goofy ways like cats do nowadays.

  • @jaisanatanrashtra7035
    @jaisanatanrashtra7035 4 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Keep coming the DINOSAURS ❤️👍

  • @MyKingoflol
    @MyKingoflol 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    so you're telling me that raptors have claws that look like the claws of raptors?
    fascinating

  • @ryanfitzalan8634
    @ryanfitzalan8634 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    id agree with the bird of prey idea. unlike modern birds of prey, Raptors would have needed to run on their legs , so they can only afford to have one major claw for gripping their prey while the others needed to stay tuned for walking and running. since raptors maintained wing feathers from their smaller gliding ancestors, they must have used them. but their body size was to large for flight or intensive gliding. their ancestors would climb trees, spot prey and glide ontop of them and grasp them still with their claw. the claw was for climbing and prey grasping. When this proved succesful behavior there was an adaptive radiation, and new branchs began to fill niches similar to certain modern carnivores today. larger dromesorids probably behaved like cougers, jaguars and tigers (maybe even similar color patterns). while medium sized ones operated like minks, foxes ocelots, and other possibly fit a lion like roll operating in prides. recall the similarity of the claw to that of cats retractable claws as well,

  • @rustyspurs771
    @rustyspurs771 4 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    A rudimentary understanding of the practical applications of physics will tell you exactly what a claw is for when you look at it. Highly hooked claws pierce so well that they're really awful for slashing, in order for it to slash well, the angle of the foot would have to be so far forward that the target would just get kicked instead. (edit: on further review, it's angled so far forward that it's impossible for it to slash well from literally any incoming position. What it is incredibly good at is piercing and then from there, making horrifying leverage cuts by essentially following the angle of the claw forward, making a semi-circular cut that's the length of the claw its self.

  • @StoneTitan
    @StoneTitan 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    hmm climbing, and birdlike, hmm possible ambush hunting jumping down from trees?

  • @jasperzanjani
    @jasperzanjani 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Who else got catfished by the small black rectangles

  • @Eye_Exist
    @Eye_Exist 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My theory is following: as feathered dinosaurs, raptors could have also used the massive claws for climbing attacks from trees, climbing into a tree with the claw and diving onto it's prey from stealth, striking it with the massive climbing claw, using gravity to multiply its force. This would also explain the evolution of birds, as the evolution pressure would be increasingly more on the gliding ability, therefore naturally leading into evolution of feathers, and later onto flapping and eventually powered flight.
    Thinking of it: many birds such as owls, eagles and hawks dive hunt today - owls especially exactly from trees. Not unheard idea in the modern raptor family at least. Would it make sense that it all started from raptors living in the dinosaur era? The massive claw getting increasingly bigger as the evolution favored climbing and dive attacking from stealth onto their prey, eventually leading to the evolution of powered flight and to birds we see today.
    Ps. this massive claw would be also good for hanging in the trees, waiting for prey to walk under it. it would be both the main weapon to penetrate skull/thick skin with the glide strike and to hang from the trees with the littlest effort possible.

  • @ssandus1153
    @ssandus1153 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Imagine 5 Raptors clinging ontop of these large dinosaurs and tearing pieces off eith their jaws and you can see how they can kill larger creatures.

  • @oerlikon20mm29
    @oerlikon20mm29 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Its so disappointing that Sauropods had an abrupted ending, I would have loved to see what kind of species would have evolved from them

    • @toastymctoastface7532
      @toastymctoastface7532 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      i mean, the titanosaurs lived to the end f the cretaceous on the southern continents

  • @kanamesuzaku1138
    @kanamesuzaku1138 4 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    First, keep it up u do a really good job at making these

  • @UngoyPrime
    @UngoyPrime 4 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Bird of prey eat animals alive, raptors would be no different.

  • @adhvithnambiar3743
    @adhvithnambiar3743 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I am so continually impressed and mesmerized by the topics Moth Light Media chooses to explore! Such an amazing channel! 🙌🏼

  • @alicewilloughby4318
    @alicewilloughby4318 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    3:40 - They think the babies could fly and then became ground dwellers as they grew up? I never knew that! Fascinating!
    5:44 - "This "food" tastes like plastic! What kind of crap are you feeding me???"

  • @juanleuschner7457
    @juanleuschner7457 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Can you please do a video on Notoungulata. I'm curious to why they went extinct.

  • @tarjei99
    @tarjei99 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    A golden eagle will kill prey by driving a claw into the brain of its victim.

  • @geoffreystuttle8080
    @geoffreystuttle8080 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    There are birds where I live that practically hurl them selves against tree trunks and stick without a horizontal branch to perch on. Perhaps a woodpecker species, don't know. But to remain vertical when 'landing' on a vertical surface, they've got to have a claw that digs in, downward from the top. So 'climbing/landing' is my vote. A claw specifically for evisceration seems a bit too specialized, not to mention horrible.

  • @CorwinTheOneAndOnly
    @CorwinTheOneAndOnly 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    My guess is that the Utharaptor transitioned into a theropod lifestyle and lost use for its claw
    nvm you said it as I was typing this XD

  • @ominous-omnipresent-they
    @ominous-omnipresent-they 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Ha! One of your contributors goes by the name of "Ken Ham."

  • @phaslow4393
    @phaslow4393 4 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    You are awesome! Thank you for your videos which are helping me maintain my sanity while I sit at home all day due to the corona virus lockdown.
    All the best to you!

  • @jaydubya3698
    @jaydubya3698 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hate to be a stickler for details, but it's deinonychus, not dienonychus. But it was a good video anyway.

  • @philipnorris6542
    @philipnorris6542 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    All good stuff; when dealing with the subject of prehistoric life there is, inevitably, a good deal of educated guesswork involved.

  • @MustardGravyy
    @MustardGravyy ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Never knew one like the Utah raptor existed. That's terrifying

  • @BiTurbo228
    @BiTurbo228 5 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    I wonder if the raptor claw might have been used both for climbing and eagle-style dispatching of large prey. If northern hemisphere raptors weren't all that fast runners, perhaps they ambushed large prey from trees like some leopards do. Climb up, wait until something wanders beneath them then drop down on top of them. Like some nightmarish drop-bear/eagle hybrid!

  • @jeronimomod156
    @jeronimomod156 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Looks like you got it wrong about Utahraptor. Just looking at the bones side by side how can you miss that

  • @RipleySawzen
    @RipleySawzen 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    3:50 "There are no animals today that could be compared with such a strange set of life stages"
    Bears tend to climb more in cubhood than adulthood. Many adult brown bears will never even climb a tree again.

  • @MaxisGameplays
    @MaxisGameplays 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Very interesting take on the juvy raptor being able to fly then transition into a ground predator as an adult.

  • @Itsjustme-Justme
    @Itsjustme-Justme 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    1990s - pack hunting nightmare fuel
    2010s - long tailed turkey
    2020 - flying nightmare fuel

  • @bernardedwards8461
    @bernardedwards8461 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Modern raptors catch prey with their feet and usually kill with their feet. They do indeed have terrible claws and a terrible grip. Falcons have slightly less powerful feet, but catch prey with their feet and kill it swiftly with their beaks by biting the neck just behind the head. Some falcons kill or disable their prey by striking a blow with their large hind claws as they pass in the stoop, the peregrine being a leading exponent of this method. Most very large raptors such as sea eagles and the Aguila eagles take quite a lot of carrion, but harpy eagles and the Monkey Eating Eagle are exceptions. Small bird catching raptors like merlins and sparrowhawks rarely if ever feed on carrion.

  • @xebraashe5854
    @xebraashe5854 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I also believe that the raptors would be holding onto the animal and biting it as well. There wouldn't be anything really stopping that, and all it takes is biting through the spine to make any prey stop. It makes them climbing make sense. They probably jumped from trees or higher places, then grabbed on and bit until whatever they were hunting stopped.

  • @Eye_Exist
    @Eye_Exist 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    My theory is following: as feathered dinosaurs, raptors could have also used the massive claws for climbing attacks from trees, climbing into a tree with the claw and diving onto it's prey from stealth, striking it with the massive climbing claw, using gravity to multiply its force. This would also explain the evolution of birds, as the evolution pressure would be increasingly more on the gliding ability, therefore naturally leading into evolution of feathers, and later onto flapping and eventually powered flight.
    Thinking of it: many birds such as owls, eagles and hawks dive hunt today - owls especially exactly from trees. Not unheard idea in the modern raptor family at least. Would it make sense that it all started from raptors living in the dinosaur era? The massive claw getting increasingly bigger as the evolution favored climbing and dive attacking from stealth onto their prey, eventually leading to the evolution of powered flight and to birds we see today.
    Ps. this massive claw would be also good for hanging in the trees, waiting for prey to walk under it. it would be both the main weapon to penetrate skull/thick skin with the glide strike and to hang from the trees with the littlest effort possible.

  • @lasagnasux4934
    @lasagnasux4934 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Big contributors like... Ken Ham. 🤣🤣🤣 whoever chose that as their name for this, bravo. Well done. Even if no one else gets it, i do.

  • @braveheart4603
    @braveheart4603 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Modern birds show us that claws like this can be utilized in all different ways depending on the niche that is carved out. Some species evolve to use them like chickens and others like those eagles in the galapagos and countless other variations as well.

  • @pedrohtunes
    @pedrohtunes 4 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Amazing video!

  • @eliletts5158
    @eliletts5158 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow! I never thought of all those theories! Great video!

  • @Sameeer_Saker
    @Sameeer_Saker 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I misheard “sickle claw” as “psicho claw”. I guess I have a new nick for my steam account now.

  • @eclair6910
    @eclair6910 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Fun fact Dino does not mean Terrible. It more accurately translates to "fearfully great"

  • @roryallen106
    @roryallen106 4 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Raptors were the most
    successful and dangerous dinosaurs ever produced by evolution
    They hunted in packs to take down pray it was a team effort they weren't called
    social animals for Nothing

    • @caniform-craze2080
      @caniform-craze2080 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Most raptors probably aren't social animals tho

  • @TheTbet
    @TheTbet 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The claws wasnt used to dig cos was kept out of the ground while walking due to preserve his sharpness for hunting, like a cat does

    • @TheTbet
      @TheTbet 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Velociraptor had retractable claws too

  • @MisterBones2910
    @MisterBones2910 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    One of your big donators called himself Ken Ham, that's hilarious.

  • @Alt-ec4nv
    @Alt-ec4nv 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Whats the deal with the fluff at the end of a raptor's tail? Ever since it became generally accepted that they were feathered, people have depicted them with flat-lying feathers up until the very tip of their tail, which fans out. Is there is a reason for that? Any evidence that this was the actual case? What's the deal?

    • @vibes951
      @vibes951 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Fanned-out tails in modern birds help steering mid-flight. Like how a plane uses its tail to create lift and slow down. Birds have evolved the same shaped tail as well.
      The reason dinosaurs had long tails was for stability and balance while running. Because we humans are bipeds without tails, we swing our arms while running to keep us balanced. However, with a horizontal stance and long tails, therapod dinosaurs were able to run fast without the need for long arms that would get in the way.
      Because of the way that raptors probably hunted their prey and some even gliding from tree to tree, it is highly plausible. So having your quote on quote "fluff" (rectrices) would have been helpful for gliding onto unwary prey. Does this answer your question?

  • @zehkiel8018
    @zehkiel8018 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    When you were listing patrons, I thought you said "Kent Ham" instead of "Ken Ham" and was real confused for a moment.

  • @Landrew0
    @Landrew0 4 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    When 2 dinosaur skeletons are found together, it doesn't mean they fought to the death. They may have been buried months apart, and carried together by water currents.

    • @easportsaxb8057
      @easportsaxb8057 4 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      I think Velociraptor clawing Protoceratops on the stomach and Protoceratops having it's beak biting Velociraptor's arm is pretty good evidence that they fought together. It would be a huge coincidence if they died at different times and places and then after years they are buried together and got to that fighting position by pure coincidence. But you might be right with Deinonychus and Tenotosaurus.