Linheraptor

Say it like this: “LIN-huh-RAP-tor”

Linheraptor exquisitus

Linheraptor ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Linheraptor

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 2010 · Xu, X.; Choiniere, J. N.; Pittman, M.; Tan, Q.; Xiao, D.; Li, Z.; Tan, L.; Clark, J. M.; Norell, M. A.; Hone, D. W. E.; Sullivan, C.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 1.8 m · 6 ft
Weight: 25 kg · 55 lb
Found in: China · Bayan Mandahu
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Velociraptorinae

The story in short

In 2010, X. Xu and colleagues published the name Linheraptor. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Linheraptor date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Bayan Mandahu Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Linheraptor at a length near 1.8 m and a body mass around 25 kg.

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

Close relatives

Adasaurus

Adasaurus mongoliensis

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Dineobellator

Dineobellator notohesperus

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Kansaignathus

Kansaignathus sogdianus

Late Cretaceous (Santonian) · roughly 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago