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sharp-clawed runner · Disputed
Variraptor
Say it like this: “VARR-i-rap-tor”
Variraptor mechinorum
Variraptor 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
- 1998 · Le Loeuff, J.; Buffetaut, E.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.6 m · 5 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- France · Grès à Reptiles
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Dromaeosauridae
The story in short
Variraptor was formally named in 1998 by J. Le Loeuff and E. Buffetaut. The name means “var thief.”
Fossils referred to Variraptor date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian), roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago. Finds come from France, including the Grès à Reptiles Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Variraptor at a length near 1.6 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