Dino card No. 1244 of 2,027

Natovenator

Say it: NAH-toh-ven-ay-tor

Name means: “swimming hunter”1

Ate: FishRaptorsLate Cretaceous

Natovenator was a tiny dinosaur that could swim! It had a streamlined body like a diving bird and a long snout full of teeth for catching fish. This little hunter lived in the deserts of Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous.2 1

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Hermiin Tsav, Omnogovi Province, Mongolia2 1

Food

Fish1 2

Length

0.7 m1

estimate by Gregory S. Paul

Weight

0.3 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2.5 bananas

as long as 4 bananas end to endlighter than a house cat

How big was Natovenator compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Natovenator had a streamlined body, which is very rare for non-avian dinosaurs. Its ribs pointed backwards to make it more hydrodynamic, just like diving birds and mosasaurs.2 1

It had 13 teeth in its premaxilla (the front of the upper jaw), which is an unusually high number for a dromaeosaurid.2 1

Its snout was long and full of many small holes (neurovascular foramina), which may have helped it sense movement in the water.2 1

Natovenator belongs to a group called Halszkaraptorinae, which are dromaeosaurids that may have been semi-aquatic. This group includes Halszkaraptor from Mongolia.1 3

Its neck was long, like many diving birds today, which helped it catch fish quickly.1

The name Natovenator means 'swimming hunter' in Latin, because scientists think it was a good swimmer that hunted in water.1

The only known fossil of Natovenator was found in the Baruungoyot Formation, which is about 72 to 83 million years old.3 1

AI-made picture of Natovenator — An AI-made picture of how Natovenator might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Natovenator

?How big was Natovenator?

About 0.7 metres (2.3 feet) long and weighed around 0.3 kilograms (0.66 pounds). That is roughly the size of a duck.1

?Could Natovenator swim?

Yes, scientists think it was a good swimmer. Its ribs pointed backwards to make its body streamlined like a diving bird, and its long neck helped it catch fish.2 1

?What did Natovenator eat?

It likely ate fish and other small prey in the water. Its many sharp teeth and long snout were good for catching slippery food.1 2

?When did Natovenator live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous, about 72 to 83 million years ago, in what is now the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think all dromaeosaurids were fast runners that lived only on land.

Truth: Natovenator shows that some dromaeosaurids, like those in the Halszkaraptorinae group, were adapted for swimming and may have spent much of their time in water.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Natovenator
Named by: Lee et al. 20224
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae4
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)4
Rock formations: Baruungoyot4
Countries: Mongolia4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Natovenator was named in 2022 by Sungjin Lee and colleagues based on a nearly complete skeleton found in Mongolia. The fossil was first mentioned in a 2019 abstract.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether all halszkaraptorines were semi-aquatic, or if some were more terrestrial. Natovenator's streamlined body supports the swimming idea, but more fossils are needed to be sure.1 2

Where the facts come from

Natovenator (en.wikipedia.org)
A non-avian dinosaur with a streamlined body exhibits potential adaptations for swimming | Communications Biology (preview-www.nature.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Natovenator in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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