Search Extinct Animals
Search Extinct Animals
When thinking about raptors, undoubtedly most people think about the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park – lizard-like, hunt in a pack, use their sharp claws to kill their prey, etc. However, in real life, raptor dinosaurs are more bird-like, with hollow bones and feathers. They are also believed to have been solitary hunters and would more likely than not use the large claws to maintain their grip while holding down their prey, as those claws could not slash the hides of most herbivores.
Most of the raptors come from the family Dromaeosauridae, though there are a few exceptions. These dinosaurs would take advantage of older prey or prey that would get trapped in quicksand. Fossils of various raptors exist worldwide, indicating that these dinosaurs’ shared traits were suitable to most conditions.
Arguably the most popular raptor thanks to its fictionalized depiction in the movie “Jurassic Park,” the real Velociraptor is a bit smaller than shown in the film. It was about the size of a turkey and covered with feathers. A famous preserved specimen of a Velociraptor was locked in combat with a Protoceratops unearthed in Mongolia.
The actual dinosaur that provided the basis for the raptors in “Jurassic Park,” Deinonychus, is a dromaeosaurid theropod that lived in the Early Cretaceous Period, whose fossils have been discovered in the U.S. states of Montana, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.
Utahraptor is a sizeable feathered theropod that lived in the part of the world that would become the continental United States during the Early Cretaceous period. Most of its fossils were unearthed in Utah, hence its name, ‘Utah’s Predator.’
Achillobator was a sizeable bipedal carnivore that had sickle-like claws on its hindlimbs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous period in the place that would become the Bayan Shireh Formation of Mongolia.
Dromaeosaurus was more heavily built than other raptors of its size, like Velociraptor. It walked the Earth during the Late Cretaceous period, with fossils recovered in the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada.
Microraptor zhaoianus is a non-avian dinosaur that provided a link between the evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds. It lived in the Early Cretaceous period, with its fossils discovered in China.
Dakotaraptor is a large dromaeosaurid theropod that lived in the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils were found in the Hell Creek Formation in western North America.
Bambiraptor is an avian dromaeosaurid theropod that walked the Earth in the Late Cretaceous period. The first skeleton was discovered by 14-year-old Wes Linster, wandering around Glacier National Park, Montana, with his parents.
Shanag is a dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that was around the Early Cretaceous Period. Its fossils were found in Mongolia.
Adasaurus is a dromaeosaurid from the Late Cretaceous period. It is known from two fossilized specimens discovered in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia.
A dromaeosaurid that lived in the Early Cretaceous, Dromaeosauroides was first discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the Robbedale Valley, located in the Baltic Sea.
Atrociraptor is a small dromaeosaurid that lived during the Late Cretaceous period. Its fossils have been discovered in Alberta, Canada.
Pyroraptor olympius is a paravian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous found in southern France and northern Spain.
One of the largest dromaeosaurids to have ever lived, Austroraptor was a moderately well-built bipedal carnivore from the Late Cretaceous.
A Late Cretaceous dromaeosaurid, Luanchuanraptor, was found in the Qiupa Formation in Luanchuan, Henan.
Balaur is a theropod from the Late Cretaceous. Its name comes from the ‘balaur’ of Romanian folklore, a type of dragon.
Unenlagia comahuensis was a dromaeosaurid from the Late Cretaceous period that lived in the part of the world that became modern South America.
Buitreraptor was a rooster-sized dromaeosaurid from the Late Cretaceous period. Its skeleton was first discovered in the Candeleros Formation in Argentina.
Changyuraptor yangi was among the largest four-winged birds to have ever lived. It lived during the Early Cretaceous period and was identified from remains in Liaoning Province, China.
Graciliraptor is a theropod from the Early Cretaceous period. Its fossil was first discovered in Beipiao, Liaoning Province, China.
Linheraptor was a dromaeosaurid from the Late Cretaceous who lived in the part of the world that is currently inner Mongolia.
Neuquenraptor argentinus is one of the first dromaeosaurids ever discovered in the Southern Hemisphere. It walked the Earth during the Late Cretaceous and lived in what is currently the Portezuelo Formation of Argentina.
Nuthetes destructor is a theropod from the Early Cretaceous. Very little information about it has been gleaned, as only a few jaw and tooth fragments have been recovered. Still, the data acquired so far indicates that it was a small-toothed predator.
Pamparaptor micros is a deinonychosaur from the Late Cretaceous period. It was a carnivore initially thought to be a juvenile of a pre-existing species, but it was later re-interpreted as a separate species.
Rahonavis ostromi is a theropod from the Late Cretaceous Era that was discovered in Madagascar. It is believed to be the size of a modern-day raven.
Saurornitholestes langstoni is a dromaeosaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous period. It was a bipedal carnivore whose remains were discovered in Canada (Alberta) and the United States (Alabama, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, and South Carolina).
Variraptor mechinorum is a dromaeosaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous. Its remains have been found in modern-day France.
Zhenyuanlong suni is a dromaeosaurid whose name in Chinese Pinyin means ‘long dragon.’ Only one specimen was discovered in the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It walked the Earth during the Early Cretaceous period.
Acheroraptor temertyorum is one of the youngest dromaeosaurids out there, the other being the Dakotaraptor – both found in Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA. It lived during the Late Cretaceous period and is closely related to Velociraptor.