Acheroraptor

Say it like this: “ah-SHEH-ro-RAP-tuh”

Acheroraptor temertyorum

Acheroraptor ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Acheroraptor

When: Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Named in: 2013 · Evans, D. C.; Larson, D. W.; Currie, P. J.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 3.3–3.4 m · 11–11 ft
Weight: 60–100 kg · 132–220 lb
Found in: the United States · Hell Creek
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Eudromaeosauria

The story in short

In 2013, D. C. Evans and colleagues published the name Acheroraptor. The name means “underworld thief.”

Fossils referred to Acheroraptor date to the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Hell Creek Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Acheroraptor at a length near 3.3–3.4 m and a body mass around 60–100 kg.

On the family tree it sits in Eudromaeosauria, among the theropod dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Bambiraptor

Bambiraptor feinbergi

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Boreonykus

Boreonykus certekorum

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Deinonychus

Deinonychus antirrhopus

Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Albian · Cenomanian) · roughly 113.2 to 93.9 million years ago