WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Did Velociraptors Really Hunt in Packs?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogebaum here with a classic episode from

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<v Speaker 1>the archives. This is a fun one for me. I

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<v Speaker 1>think I mispronounced the names of a few dinosaurs, but

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<v Speaker 1>I was excited because I was talking about dinosaurs, and

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<v Speaker 1>specifically about velociraptors. In this episode, we answered the surprisingly

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<v Speaker 1>complex question of whether they really hunted in packs the

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<v Speaker 1>way that we see in the movies. Hey there, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogebaum here. Whoever the human stars of the latest

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<v Speaker 1>Jurassic Park movie are the velociraptors are the fan favorite performers.

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<v Speaker 1>Packs of raptors can gang up on anyone or anything,

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<v Speaker 1>from kids in kitchens to a hybridized dino monster. Their

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<v Speaker 1>tax are organized, strategic, and in most of the movies

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<v Speaker 1>they rely on a chain of command within the group.

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<v Speaker 1>But is such team oriented behavior supported by the fossil record.

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<v Speaker 1>Before we can answer that question, we should clear something up.

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<v Speaker 1>The dinosaur that's called velociraptor in the Jurassic Park movies

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<v Speaker 1>and novels was based on a completely different animal known

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<v Speaker 1>as Dano NICUs, and when it comes to size, there's

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<v Speaker 1>a huge gap between the two Velociraptor wasn't much bigger

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<v Speaker 1>than a turkey, but the adult dano Niicus measured eleven

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<v Speaker 1>feet or about three point three meters long, and may

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<v Speaker 1>have weighed more than two hundred pounds. That's both are

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<v Speaker 1>classified as Dromaeosaurids, a family of bird like carnivorous dinosaurs.

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<v Speaker 1>Members of this group had a specialized toe on each foot,

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<v Speaker 1>which famously was held in an upright position while they walked.

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<v Speaker 1>In theory. That habit kept the large hook shaped claws

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<v Speaker 1>on those digits nice and sharp. Historically, it was thought

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<v Speaker 1>that these claws were slashing tools used to disembowel prey,

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<v Speaker 1>but recent studies have found that the claus would have

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<v Speaker 1>been better equipped for stabbing or puncturing Dromosaurus. Therefore, it

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<v Speaker 1>might have used their remarkable toes to help them cling

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<v Speaker 1>on to large thrashing victims. Think of this as sort

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<v Speaker 1>of a prehistoric rodeo. Getting back to dano Niicus, This

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<v Speaker 1>particular dinosaur was originally discovered in nineteen thirty one in Montana,

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<v Speaker 1>but it wouldn't be named until nineteen sixty nine. That's

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<v Speaker 1>when Yale paleontologist John Ostrom was overseeing a dig at

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<v Speaker 1>a Montana quarry, and the bones of four dino nikus

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<v Speaker 1>were found strewn around the partial skeleton of a much

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<v Speaker 1>larger herbivore called Tanantosaurus. Late in his career, Ostrom compared

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<v Speaker 1>this paleocrime scene to a wolf pack dispatching its prey.

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<v Speaker 1>The four dead dino Nikus, dinos he theorized had been

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<v Speaker 1>killed while attacking the big plant eater in a coordinated

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<v Speaker 1>group effort. Later, other members of their pack presumably killed

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<v Speaker 1>that tenacious dinosaur. Ostrom's work influenced author Michael Crichton, who

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<v Speaker 1>wrote pack hunting Dromaeosaurus into the first Jurassic Park book.

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<v Speaker 1>The concept has since taken hold of the public's imagination. Moreover,

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<v Speaker 1>it's had a significant impact on dinosaurs science. Therapods, the

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<v Speaker 1>group containing birds and all known extinct carnivorous dinos, are

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<v Speaker 1>often found fossilized in close proximity to other members of

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<v Speaker 1>their own species. Because of this, it's argued that plenty

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<v Speaker 1>of non dremaosaur predators like Tyrannosaurus and allosaurs might have

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<v Speaker 1>hunted in packs too, but then again, perhaps they didn't.

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<v Speaker 1>In a two thousand seven paper, paleontologists Bryan Roach and

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<v Speaker 1>Daniel Brinkman dissected the issue at length, and in their opinion,

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<v Speaker 1>neither Dana Nikeus, nor velociraptor, nor any other non avian

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<v Speaker 1>predatory dinosaur would have formed packs. Via email, Brinkman explained,

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<v Speaker 1>mammal like cooperative pack hunting is an extremely rare and

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<v Speaker 1>complex behavior, so let's talk terminology. Brinkman and Roaches paper

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<v Speaker 1>defines true cooperative pack hunting as a group effort carried

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<v Speaker 1>out by animals that habitually worked together with others of

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<v Speaker 1>their species to capture and subdue prey too large for

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<v Speaker 1>an individual predator to kill alone. Furthermore, these team players

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<v Speaker 1>also defend their territory collectively and may share youngster rearing duties.

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<v Speaker 1>No living bird or reptile fits the criteria. It's true

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<v Speaker 1>that nile crocodiles sometimes gang up on big mammals like wildebees,

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<v Speaker 1>but they later disperse, and although Harris hawks have been

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<v Speaker 1>known to form hunting parties of up to nine birds,

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<v Speaker 1>they target small game while doing so. That said, there

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<v Speaker 1>is one living animal that, according to Roached Brinkman, might

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<v Speaker 1>offer us some insight into how Dramosaurus and other non

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<v Speaker 1>avian therapods behaved. Around big prey items. The Komodo dragon.

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<v Speaker 1>Komodo dragons are solo hunters and effective ones at that

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<v Speaker 1>an adult can bring down victims ten times its own

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<v Speaker 1>body weight. These reptiles are also eager scavengers, and when

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<v Speaker 1>one of them kills a large prey item, others are

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<v Speaker 1>likely to come running. What follows is a gruesome feeding

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<v Speaker 1>frenzy with a dozen or more commodo dragons mobbing the carcass.

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<v Speaker 1>Such meetings get violent fast. While squabbling over a corpse,

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<v Speaker 1>komotos may attack one another. Sometimes they even kill and

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<v Speaker 1>eat their smaller competitors at the site. So when paleontologists

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<v Speaker 1>find a large collection of therapod bones and or teeth

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<v Speaker 1>in the same fossil deposit, what should they make of it?

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<v Speaker 1>Should they interpret the remains like a wolf style family unit,

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<v Speaker 1>or should they be viewed as the site of a

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<v Speaker 1>disorganized mob where side squabbles and cannibalism would have been rampant.

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<v Speaker 1>For their part, Brinkman and Roach find the latter scenario

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<v Speaker 1>more probable. Brinkman said Dina, nikes and other non avian

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<v Speaker 1>therapods were most likely solitary hunters who engaged in antagonistic

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<v Speaker 1>Komodo dragon like feeding aggregations, and they interacted with each

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<v Speaker 1>other in ways that were much more contentious, combative, and

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<v Speaker 1>cannibalistic than has been widely believed. Okay, but what about

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<v Speaker 1>dinosaur footprints? Can they shed any light onto the pack

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<v Speaker 1>hunting debate. In two thousand and seven, a hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>twenty million year old drmaosaur trackway was discovered in China.

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<v Speaker 1>Six different sets of parallel tracks were found, each made

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<v Speaker 1>by an animal standing about four feet or one point

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<v Speaker 1>two meters tall at the hip, and judging by the

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<v Speaker 1>nature of the sediment, it looks like these prints were

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<v Speaker 1>all laid down within a very short span of time.

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<v Speaker 1>Anthony J. Martin, a leading paleo ichnologist a trace fossil scientist,

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<v Speaker 1>thinks the animals who made them were traveling in some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of group. He said via email. The trackways showed

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<v Speaker 1>these drmaosaurs were moving at about the same pace, in

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<v Speaker 1>the same direction parallel, and spaced more or less the

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<v Speaker 1>same distance apart. So I'm fairly certain that this is

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<v Speaker 1>evidence of group behavior. Still, this doesn't necessarily mean the

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<v Speaker 1>dromosaurs hunted in packs. Maybe they were rushing toward a

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<v Speaker 1>dead body like those independently minded Komodo dragons. In order

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<v Speaker 1>to confidently cite any footprint assemblage as the product of

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<v Speaker 1>pack hunting or a similar activity, would need, said Martin,

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<v Speaker 1>more evidence, such as tracks of a prey animal that

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<v Speaker 1>was clearly preceding them and not by much time. Best

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<v Speaker 1>of all would be the dromosaur tracks ending at a

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<v Speaker 1>kill site and acknowledgist can dream right. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Mark Mancini, whose name I also original name

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<v Speaker 1>is pronounced, and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other topics because

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<v Speaker 1>at how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is produce

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