Tianyuraptor

Say it like this: “tyen-YOO-RAP-tor”

Tianyuraptor ostromi

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

Quiz me on Tianyuraptor

When: Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
Named in: 2010 · Zheng, X.; Xu, X.; You, H.; Zhao, Q.; Dong, Z.
Hip height: 0.6 m · 2 ft
Length: 2 m · 7 ft
Weight: 11 kg · 24 lb
Found in: China · Yixian
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Dromaeosauridae

The story in short

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

Fossils referred to Tianyuraptor date to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Yixian Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Tianyuraptor at a length near 2 m, hips about 0.6 m high, and a body mass around 11 kg.

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