Rativates
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Rativates Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 77–75 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Clade: | †Ornithomimosauria |
| Family: | †Ornithomimidae |
| Genus: |
†Rativates McFeeters et al., 2016 |
| Type species | |
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†Rativates evadens McFeeters et al., 2016 |
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Rativates is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. The type species is Rativates evadens.
The known specimen of Rativates was a subadult or adult individual of at least eight years in age, as demonstrated through lines of arrested growth in a thin section of the right femur. It was small for an ornithomimid, being about 50% of the size of the largest individuals of Struthiomimus.
The authors identified four autapomorphies, unique derived traits, that distinguish Rativates from all other ornithomimids: the part of the maxilla contacting the jugal is relatively short and posteroventrally located; the tail vertebrae in front of the transition point (where the tail vertebrae become abruptly thinner and more elongated) have unusually horizontally short, mound-like neural spines; the left and right shafts of the ischia are entirely fused together on their back surfaces, with no vertical cleft between them; and the flexor edge of the third metatarsal is straight, not concave as in other ornithomimids.
In addition, the authors also noted other traits that distinguished it from the contemporary ornithomimids it shared its habitat with. Unlike Struthiomimus, the anterior portion of the ilium reaches as far forward as the end of the pubic shaft, and the medial (inner) edge of the third metatarsal is straighter as well. Compared to Ornithomimus, the antorbital fenestra is proportionally shorter. Finally, Rativates is smaller than the large Dinosaur Park ornithomimid (still unnamed as of 2016), and also differs in the anatomy of its unguals (foot claws).
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