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sharp-clawed runner
Dakotaraptor
Say it like this: “duh-KO-tuh-RAP-tuh”
Dakotaraptor steini
Dakotaraptor ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 2015 · DePalma, R. A.; Burnham, D. A.; Martin, L. D.; Larson, P. L.; Bakker, R. T.
- Hip height
- 1.4 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 4.4–6 m · 14–20 ft
- Weight
- 220–350 kg · 485–772 lb
- Found in
- the United States · Hell Creek
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Dromaeosauridae
The story in short
In 2015, R. A. DePalma and colleagues published the name Dakotaraptor. The name means “thief from Dakota.”
Fossils referred to Dakotaraptor 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 Dakotaraptor at a length near 4.4–6 m, hips about 1.4 m high, and a body mass around 220–350 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Dromaeosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.