Aerosteon riocoloradensis was a formidable predatory dinosaur that inhabited the

coastal plains and river deltas of late Cretaceous Patagonia, approximately 84

million years ago. As an advanced megaraptoran theropod, it occupied a high
predatory niche as one of the dominant carnivores of its time period and region.
The holotype specimen of Aerosteon, consisting of partial skeletal remains,
indicates an adult body size reaching up to 7-8 meters in length. While not as
massive as some contemporary carcharodontosaurids and abelisaurids, Aerosteon was a
sufficiently large and powerfully built theropod capable of preying upon a variety
of medium to large-sized dinosaurian herbivores that shared its paleoenvironment.

A notable feature of Aerosteon was its advanced respiratory system, more bird-like
than any other non-avian theropod. Numerous bones throughout its skeleton exhibited
elaborately derived pneumaticity, with complex internal air sac structures
hollowing out the pelvic bones, furcula, vertebrae, and even gastralia. This
sophisticated system likely served analogous functions to that seen in modern
birds, improving gas exchange efficiency and metabolic regulation. It may have also
helped lighten Aerosteon's overall body weight and enhance its ability to undertake
sustained activity levels as a dynamic pursuit predator. The presence of such
adaptations so early in the Cretaceous further exemplifies megaraptorans as one of
the theropod lineages that foreshadowed the anatomical changes leading to true
birds.

As a member of Megaraptora, Aerosteon would have exhibited a gracile yet formidably

armed hypercarnivorous body type well adapted for hunting. Recent phylogenetic
analyses uphold its close affinities to other megaraptorans like Megaraptor and
Australovenator. Its manus was equipped with sizable reversed serrated claw on
digit two, a characteristic raptorial feature. At the same time, Aerosteon retained
adaptations for facultative bipedalism like parallel-striding hindlimbs with a
centrally placed fourth trochanter. This allowed it to pursue prey both swiftly on
two legs and make rapid maneuvers or bring down quarry using its forelimbs. With
keen predatory senses, razor-sharp teeth, and formidable claws, Aerosteon was
surely one of the most specialized apex land predators of the late Cretaceous South
American mainland.