5. Discussion
The specimens described in this paper provide important
independent confirmation of a previously suggested pattern of
trophic interaction between two dinosaurian taxa, namely feeding by Velociraptor (IVPP V16138) upon Protoceratops (IVPP V16137).
Even if one or both of these specimens has been misidentified at the
generic level, they clearly still support a more general trophic
relationship between velociraptorine dromaeosaurids and basal
neoceratopsians in the Late Cretaceous of Asia. However, the “fighting
dinosaurs” specimen from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation
of the Tögrögiin Shiree locality, Mongolia (Kielan–Jaworowska and
Barsbold, 1972) remains the only direct evidence that Velociraptor
actively preyed on Protoceratops. In this specimen the raptorial pedal
claw of a Velociraptor is lodged in the throat region of a Protoceratops,
suggesting that the former combatant killed the latter. However, the
right arm of the Velociraptor is also locked firmly between the jaws of
the Protoceratops, and it is possible that this enigmatic specimen
represents not a predator/prey interaction but rather a chance
encounter between the two animals that escalated into combat. In
the case of IVPP V16137 and IVPP V16138, it cannot be definitively
determined whether the Velociraptor was feeding on a Protoceratops it
had killed or simply scavenging on an individual that had died
previously.
5. Discussion
The specimens described in this paper provide important
independent confirmation of a previously suggested pattern of
trophic interaction between two dinosaurian taxa, namely feeding by Velociraptor (IVPP V16138) upon Protoceratops (IVPP V16137).
Even if one or both of these specimens has been misidentified at the
generic level, they clearly still support a more general trophic
relationship between velociraptorine dromaeosaurids and basal
neoceratopsians in the Late Cretaceous of Asia. However, the “fighting
dinosaurs” specimen from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation
of the Tögrögiin Shiree locality, Mongolia (Kielan–Jaworowska and
Barsbold, 1972) remains the only direct evidence that Velociraptor
actively preyed on Protoceratops. In this specimen the raptorial pedal
claw of a Velociraptor is lodged in the throat region of a Protoceratops,
suggesting that the former combatant killed the latter. However, the
right arm of the Velociraptor is also locked firmly between the jaws of
the Protoceratops, and it is possible that this enigmatic specimen
represents not a predator/prey interaction but rather a chance
encounter between the two animals that escalated into combat. In
the case of IVPP V16137 and IVPP V16138, it cannot be definitively
determined whether the Velociraptor was feeding on a Protoceratops it
had killed or simply scavenging on an individual that had died
previously.
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