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Who wins?
Clouded Leopard 10 (71.4%)
Balaur bondoc 4 (28.6%)
Total Votes: 14
Clouded Leopard v Balaur bondoc
Topic Started: Apr 29 2013, 06:51 PM (2,383 Views)
Taipan
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Clouded Leopard - Neofelis nebulosa
The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is a felid found from the Himalayan foothills through mainland Southeast Asia into China, and has been classified as vulnerable in 2008 by IUCN. Clouded leopards have a tan or tawny coat, and are distinctively marked with large, irregularly-shaped, dark-edged ellipses which are said to be shaped like clouds. This unique appearance gave the cat both its common and scientific species name—nebulosus is Latin for "cloudy". The clouded leopard was confusing to scientists for a long time because of its appearance and skeleton. It seemed to be a cross between a big cat and a small cat. The average clouded leopard typically weighs between 15 and 23 kilograms (33 and 51 lb), and has a shoulder height of 25 to 40 centimetres (9.8 to 16 in). Females have a head-body length varying from 68 to 94 centimetres (27 to 37 in), with a 61 to 82 centimetres (24 to 32 in) tail, while the males are larger at 81 to 108 centimetres (32 to 43 in) with a 74 to 91 centimetres (29 to 36 in) tail. Clouded leopards have a heavy build and, proportionately, the longest canine teeth of any living felid—of 2 inches (5.1 cm), about the same as a tiger's. These characteristics led early researchers to speculate that they preyed on large land-dwelling mammals. Because of the animal's reclusive nature, the behavior of the clouded leopard in the wild is little known. With no evidence for a pack or pride society like that of the lion, it is assumed that it is a generally solitary creature, and it appears to be primarily nocturnal. Clouded leopards are largely arboreal, hunting prey in the trees, and also using trees to rest during the day. However, they spend a significant proportion of their time on the ground, and sometimes inhabit environments without tall trees.

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Balaur bondoc
Balaur bondoc is a uniquely specialized species of carnivorous (theropod) dinosaur which lived in what is now Romania during the latter part of the Late Cretaceous. Balaur was described by scientists in August 2010, and was named after the balaur, a dragon of Romanian folklore. The species name "bondoc" means stocky, so Balaur bondoc means "Stocky dragon" in Romanian. This name refers to the greater musculature that Balaur had compared to its relatives. It is known from a single partial skeleton representing the type specimen. Balaur is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs estimated to have lived about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), and contains the single species B. bondoc.[3] The bones of this species were shorter and heavier than those of other dromaeosaurs. While the feet of most dromaeosaurs bore a single, large "sickle claw" on the second toe which was held retracted off the ground, Balaur had large retractable sickle claws on both the first and second toes of each foot. In addition to its strange feet, the type specimen of Balaur is unique for its status of being the most complete non-avialan theropod from the late Cretaceous of Europe. It also possesses a great number of additional autapomorphies, including a reduced and presumably nonfunctional third manual digit. Phylogenetic analysis currently places Balaur closest to the Asiatic mainland species Velociraptor to which it is similar in size, with Balaur's recovered skeletal elements suggesting an overall length of around 1.8–2.1 metres (5.9–6.9 ft). Hence, in this case, Foster's effect is not evinced.] Yet, when compared to its nearest relatives, some 20 unique features were observed, including a re-evolved functional first toe with a large claw that can be hyperextended, short and stocky feet and legs, and large muscle attachment areas on the pelvis which indicate that it was adapted for strength rather than speed. Weight -23 kg ??

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Edited by Taipan, Aug 31 2015, 09:22 PM.
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Spinodontosaurus
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The last I heard of Balaur, Andrea Cau had presented some pretty good evidence that it may have been at the very least omnivorous. Most important of all was that the double sickle claw was not at all a double sickle claw, but a single one. I'll dig it up before drawing any actual conclusions though.
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Taipan
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Spinodontosaurus
Apr 29 2013, 08:46 PM
The last I heard of Balaur, Andrea Cau had presented some pretty good evidence that it may have been at the very least omnivorous. Most important of all was that the double sickle claw was not at all a double sickle claw, but a single one. I'll dig it up before drawing any actual conclusions though.


This is from 2013:

This monographic description provides further evidence that Balaur is an unusual derived dromaeosaurid, closely related to Velociraptor, with a remarkably modified hand and foot skeleton, including a stocky and heavily fused distal hind limb, a double set of hyperextensible pedal claws, and a fused and atrophied hand, which are otherwise unknown among derived coelurosaurian theropods.
http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/6419
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Vobby
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"First, as I mentioned yesterday , the first toe is not really an exact copy of the "classic" sickle hyperextensible finger of dromaeosauridi: wanting to be correct, the peculiarity of this finger is purely in size, that are comparable to those the third and fourth toe. The evidence cited in the study on a "hyperextensibility" finger are few, and, as a precaution, it should be limited to evidence dimensional. Note that the metatarsals are devoid of furrows distal extensors, and thus had little capacity extensor. In general, the first finger is very reminiscent of the condition in Therizinosauroidea. This is exacerbated by the same proportions of the entire metatarsal, which is large, stocky and short, as in therizinosauroidi. This raises the suspicion that the foot is not a "double killing machine", but rather, an adaptation graviportale, maybe some specific particular environment.

In this regard, it is very interesting to note that the pool of Balaur present a very large pelvic canal of the pubis. This character is typical of taxa herbivores, which tend to have widened to a large storage reservoirs of plant material to digest. All of these characters belie the image of the predator that we would expect in a dromaeosauride derivative, and are well adapted to the characteristics of the hand, which, with a marked ossification of the metacarpal, the atrophy of the third finger and the reduction of the mobility of the fingers flexor , appears ill-suited for a lifestyle predatory.
Maybe it's just a suggestion, but it is so bizarre to see Balaur in a kind of "therizinosauro mime-island," or, as I said jokingly, "Dodo-raptor" means an omnivore-herbivore not cursory"


http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A//theropoda.blogspot.fr/2010/09/balaur-more-than-just-double-sickle.html%23more&hl=en&langpair=it|en&tbb=1&ie=UTF-8

This is what Spinodontosaurus was referring to I guess, but there are other (old) posts about this matter, in which Cau also seems to have changed his mind, considering Balaur's anatomy somewhat consinstent with Fowler's theory about the hunting style of dromaeosaurids:
http://theropoda.blogspot.fr/2011/12/extinction-of-dodoraptor.html

These posts are all a bit old, so I'm not sure about how much importance we should give to them, since he may have changed his mind again...

Anyway, since this animal is so enigmatic, it could be wise to avoid doing matches with it, there is a number of birds/dromaeosaurids of similar size to confront with small sized cats.
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Spinodontosaurus
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Yes, that is what I was referring to.

Quote:
 
Anyway, since this animal is so enigmatic, it could be wise to avoid doing matches with it, there is a number of birds/dromaeosaurids of similar size to confront with small sized cats.

I agree, Velociraptor and Dromaeosaurus are fine examples.
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Grimace
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I'd give to fight to the dino in most large cat battles. Large cats like to go for the neck, and clamp down.
Thats all well and good, but doesnt work too well with an animal that is good at kicking and basically has knives for feet
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