Utahraptor

Say it like this: “YOO-tah-RAP-tor”

Utahraptor ostrommaysi

Utahraptor ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.

Quiz me on Utahraptor

When: Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) · roughly 137.1 to 132.6 million years ago
Named in: 1993 · Kirkland, J. I.; Burge, D.; Gaston, R.
Hip height: Not established
Length: 4.9–7 m · 16–23 ft
Weight: 250–777 kg · 551–1,713 lb
Found in: the United States · Cedar Mountain
Food and walking: Carnivore · Two legs
Kind: sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
Family branch: Dromaeosaurinae

The story in short

In 1993, J. I. Kirkland and colleagues published the name Utahraptor. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.

Fossils referred to Utahraptor date to the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian), roughly 137.1 to 132.6 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Cedar Mountain Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.

Published estimates put Utahraptor at a length near 4.9–7 m and a body mass around 250–777 kg.

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

Close relatives

Achillobator

Achillobator giganticus

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian–Santonian) · roughly 100.5 to 83.6 million years ago

Dromaeosaurus

Dromaeosaurus albertensis

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Itemirus

Itemirus medullaris

Late Cretaceous (Turonian) · roughly 93.9 to 89.8 million years ago