Information AboutUtahraptor |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT UTAHRAPTOR | |
| cretaceous dinosaurs | |
| dinosaurs of north america | |
| dromaeosaurs | |
| natural history of utah | |
| utahraptor | |
''Utahraptor'' (" Utah thief") is the largest known member of the Theropod Dinosaur family Dromaeosauridae , and dates from the upper Barremian Stage of the Lower Cretaceous period (126 million years ago). DISCOVERY AND SPECIES James Kirkland, Rob Gaston, and Don Burge discovered ''Utahraptor'' in 1993 in Grand County, Utah , within the Cedar Mountain Formation . The Type Specimen is currently housed at the College Of Eastern Utah , although Brigham Young University currently houses the largest collection of ''Utahraptor'' fossils. The Type Species (and only known species of ''Utahraptor''), ''Utahraptor ostrommaysorum'', was named for the American Paleontologist John Ostrom , from Yale University's Peabody Museum , and Chris Mays, of Dinamation International. CHARACTERISTICS Like other dromaeosaurids, ''Utahraptor'' had a huge curved claw on the second toe that could grow to 23 cm (almost 9 inches) long. The animal may have grasped its prey with its forelimbs while kicking with its hindlimbs. Recents tests on reconstructions of the smaller species '' Velociraptor '' suggest that claws of this type were used for stabbing, not slashing. Up to 7 meters (20 feet) long, 3 meters (8 feet) tall and 700 kg (1500lbs) in weight, ''Utahraptor'' would have been a formidable predator (Kirkland ''et al.'' 1993). CLASSIFICATION It is thought that ''Utahraptor'' may be closely related to the much smaller '' Dromaeosaurus '' (Kirkland ''et al.'' 1993) and the giant Mongolia n dromaeosaurid '' Achillobator ''. A more detailed classification:
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