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sharp-clawed runner
Gigantoraptor
Say it like this: “ji-GAN-to-rap-tor”
Gigantoraptor erlianensis
Gigantoraptor ate plants and meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 2007 · Xu, X.; Tan, Q.; Wang, J.; Zhao, X.; Tan, L.
- Hip height
- 3.5 m · 11 ft
- Length
- 8–8.6 m · 26–28 ft
- Weight
- 1.4–2 tonnes
- Found in
- China · Iren Dabasu
- Food and walking
- Omnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Caenagnathidae
The story in short
The genus Gigantoraptor dates to 2007, the year X. Xu and colleagues described it. The name means “giant thief.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Iren Dabasu Formation. It was an omnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Gigantoraptor at a length near 8–8.6 m, hips about 3.5 m high, and a body mass around 1.4–2 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Caenagnathidae, among the theropod dinosaurs.