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sharp-clawed runner
Pyroraptor
Say it like this: “PIE-ro-RAP-tor”
Pyroraptor olympius
Pyroraptor ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in France.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago
- Named in
- 2000 · Allain, R.; Taquet, P.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.3 m · 4 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- France · Argiles et Grès à Reptiles
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Dromaeosauridae
The story in short
In 2000, R. Allain and P. Taquet published the name Pyroraptor. The name means “fire thief.”
Fossils referred to Pyroraptor date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian), roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from France, including the Argiles et Grès à Reptiles Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Pyroraptor at a length near 1.3 m.
On the family tree it sits in Dromaeosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Asiamericana
Asiamericana asiatica
Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian) · roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago
Balaur
Balaur bondoc
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Dakotaraptor
Dakotaraptor steini
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago