UTAHRAPTOR
Utahraptor ostrommaysorum
Meaning: "Utah Thief"
📊 STATS
Size comparison:
As long as a small school bus!
📖 ABOUT UTAHRAPTOR
Meet Utahraptor, the super-sized raptor! This speedy dinosaur was a clever hunter with a HUGE toe claw – imagine a giant, scary switchblade!
Utahraptor was one of the biggest, baddest raptors ever to roam the Earth! Living during the Early Cretaceous period, about 135 to 130 million years ago, this "Utah Thief" was a formidable predator. Unlike its smaller cousin, Velociraptor, Utahraptor was massive, reaching up to 7 meters long and weighing around 700 kilograms. Its most distinctive feature was its enormous sickle-shaped claw on each foot. These claws, which could grow to be over 30 centimeters long, were used to slash at prey, helping Utahraptor bring down even large dinosaurs. Imagine Utahraptor sprinting at speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour! It likely hunted in packs, using its intelligence and agility to outsmart its prey. Fossil evidence suggests Utahraptor may have even hunted Iguanodons, giant plant-eating dinosaurs that lived at the same time. The discovery of Utahraptor fossils in Utah in 1991 changed our understanding of raptors, proving that some of these dinosaurs could grow to truly impressive sizes. It was a true apex predator of its time!
🔬 CLASSIFICATION
- Group
- Theropoda
- Family
- Dromaeosauridae
- Period
- Early Cretaceous (145-100 Ma)
- Era
- 135.0 - 130.0 million years ago
🗺️ DISCOVERY
- Year
- 1991
- Discovered by
- Jim Kirkland
- Location
- Utah, USA
- Fossils found in
- USA (Utah)
🎨 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION
Artistic reconstruction of Utahraptor based on fossil evidence
🗺️ WHERE FOSSILS WERE FOUND
USA (Utah)
🤓 FUN FACTS
- ✨ Utahraptor's name means "Utah Thief" because it was discovered in Utah!
- ✨ Its foot claw was as long as some people's hands!
- ✨ Utahraptor was much bigger than the Velociraptors you see in movies!
- ✨ Scientists think Utahraptor may have had feathers!
- ✨ It could run super fast, almost as fast as a car in the city!
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Get this! Scientists found a HUGE block of sandstone with several Utahraptor skeletons inside, suggesting they may have hunted together in packs and even died together during a hunt!
