Velociraptor mongoliensis, Osborn, 1924

Brownstein, Chase Doran, 2021, Dromaeosaurid crania demonstrate the progressive loss of facial pneumaticity in coelurosaurian dinosaurs, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 191 (1), pp. 87-112 : 94

Velociraptor mongoliensis

In contrast to Deinonychus , the more elongate, flattened nasals of the holotype of Velociraptor mongoliensis show no exterior pneumatic features ( Fig. 2A–B ). A row of foramina along the lateral surface of the nasal was briefly mentioned by Barsbold and Ósmolska (1990). These foramina are much smaller and more numerous than the pneumatic foramina in Deinonychus . These foramina increase in size posteriorly and are similar in size and depth to the neurovascular foramina of the premaxilla and maxilla. Therefore, I identify these foramina as part of the rostral neurovasculature of Velociraptor ( Fig. 2C–F ). The articulation between the nasal and maxilla is smooth, as in Deinonychus .

Figures

Figure 2. Craniofacial pneumaticity of Velociraptor. Skull AMNH FARB 6515 in (A, C) lateral and (B, D) medial views, with the rostrum in (E) lateral and (F) medial views. Abbreviations: aofen, antorbital fenestra; aof, antorbital fossa; mf, maxillary fenestra; mx, maxilla; pmf, promaxillary fenestra; mi, maxilla interior;?pipf, premaxillary pneumatic foramina; pmx, premaxilla; pf, pneumatic foramina of the frontal; front, frontal; nf, neurovascular foramina; rugose, rugose bone surface; smooth, smooth bone surface. In (C) and (D), light blue are neurovascular foramina, light green is the maxillary fenestra, light red is the promaxillary fenestra, tan is an additional maxillary fenestra.