Lalaraptor

Lalaraptor is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Siberia during the Late Cretaceous epoch. One species, L. baikalensis, whose fossils were first discovered around Lake Baikal. Unusual among dromaeosaurids, its skull shares the same shape as the modern nerpa.

Lalaraptor is about the size of Velociraptor, and much like the latter, it was equipped with feathers, making it easy to jump along the cliffs of Lake Baikal. Similarly, it was as swift as Velociraptor (literally means "swift thief"). This, combined, with its agility, helped it manoeuvre quickly through the Baikal Forest. All of these similarities, adding to the close ranges of both dinosaurs (Velociraptor lived in what is now Mongolia and China), led to the conclusion that both Lalaraptor and Velociraptor, alongside Uzbekistani genus Itemirus, share a common ancestor in the subfamily Velociraptorinae. Despite all the similarities, Lalaraptor was among the first animals to undergo nerpulation, having developed a baikalesque skull.