When did the Utahraptor become extinct? The exact timeline as to when the Utahraptor genus may have become extinct is not clear to us since the fossil remains, as well as the holotype specimen, suggests that it may have been deposited before the end of the cretaceous period and through the natural death of the animal.
Full Answer
When did the Utahraptor live?
Utahraptor Lived During the Early Cretaceous Period. Perhaps the most unusual thing about Utahraptor, aside from its size, is when this dinosaur lived: about 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period.
Did Utahraptor dig its claws into dinosaurs?
Utahraptor probably dug its claws on a regular basis into plant-eating dinosaurs like Iguanodon . Perhaps the most unusual thing about Utahraptor, aside from its size, is when this dinosaur lived: about 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period.
Is Utahraptor a carnivore?
Utahraptor (meaning "Utah thief") is extinct genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid from the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous, living in what is now North America. Related to Deinonychus and Velociraptor, Utahraptor is the largest dromaeosaur known to science.
How many species of Utahraptor are there?
Utahraptor. It contains a single species, Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, which is the largest-known member of the family Dromaeosauridae. Fossil specimens date to the upper Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous period (in rock strata dated to 126 ± 2.5 million years ago).
When did the Utahraptor live?
Utahraptor Lived During the Early Cretaceous Period. Perhaps the most unusual thing about Utahraptor, aside from its size, is when this dinosaur lived: about 125 million years ago, during the early Cretaceous period.
Who discovered the Utahraptor?
Though the honor of its discovery went to James Kirkland (see above), Utahraptor was actually named by another eminent paleontologist, Robert Bakker —who then went on to make a female Utahraptor the main protagonist of his adventure novel Raptor Red. Correcting the historical record (and the errors perpetrated by movies like Jurassic Park ), Bakker's Utahraptor is a fully fleshed-out individual, not evil or malicious by nature but simply trying to survive in its harsh environment.
What is the name of the raptor that is a dinosaur?
The single-named species of Utahraptor, Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, honors the famous American paleontologist John Ostrom (as well as the dinosaur robotics pioneer Chris Mays). Way back before it was fashionable, in the 1970s, Ostrom speculated that raptors like Deinonychus were the distant ancestors of modern birds, a theory that has since been accepted by the vast majority of paleontologists (though it's not clear whether raptors, or some other family of feathered dinosaur, lay at the root of the bird evolutionary tree).
What is the biggest raptor in the world?
Utahraptor Is the Largest Raptor Yet Discovered. Utahraptor's claim to fame is that it was by far the biggest raptor ever to walk the earth; adults measured about 25 feet from head to tail and weighed in the neighborhood of 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, compared to 200 pounds for a more typical raptor, the much later Deinonychus, ...
How big are the claws of the Utahraptor?
Befitting its large size, Utahraptor possessed especially dangerous-looking nine-inch-long claws (which sort of made it the dinosaur equivalent of the Saber-Toothed Tiger, which lived millions of years later). Utahraptor probably dug its claws on a regular basis into plant-eating dinosaurs like Iguanodon .
How long are the claws on a raptor's hind feet?
The Claws on Utahraptor's Hind Feet Were Almost a Foot Long. Among other things, raptors are distinguished by the large, curving, single claws on each of their hind feet, which they used to slash at and disembowel their prey.
Where are dinosaurs found in Utah?
The "type fossil" of Utahraptor was unearthed from Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation (part of the larger Morrison Formation) in 1991 and named by a team including paleontologist James Kirkland; however, this raptor lived tens of millions of years before its fellow Utah namesake, the recently described (and much bigger) horned, frilled dinosaur Utahceratops.
How many Utahraptor were found?
The discovery of a group of six Utahraptor including a 16-foot adult, several juveniles and a 3-foot baby indicates pack-hunting might have been a possibility in this genus. The animals in question were pursuing prey that had become mired in quicksand when they themselves were trapped, leading to their death. The fossils were later found by Dr. James Kirkland etc., and are currently being studied, though progress is currently halted on the specimen after a decade of excavation. Whether all of the Utahraptor individuals were mired simultaneously or were lured in one-by-one is unclear, but the answer may yet come to light once crowdfunding efforts to bring in professional excavator Scott Madsen are completed.
Where was the first Utahraptor found?
The first specimens of Utahraptor were found in 1975 by Jim Jensen in the Dalton Wells Quarry in east-central Utah, near the town of Moab, but did not receive much attention.
What is the largest dromaeosaur in North America?
Utahraptor (meaning "Utah thief") is extinct genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid from the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous, living in what is now North America. Related to Deinonychus and Velociraptor, Utahraptor is the largest dromaeosaur known to science. Utahraptor is also a member of the Dromaeosaurinae, a group of dromaeosaurids that relied heavily on their jaws to kill their prey. Utahraptor was closely related to Dromaeosaurus, Achillobator, and Dakotaraptor among others based on cladistic analysis.
What is the name of the dinosaur in Walking with Dinosaurs?
Walking with Dinosaurs Utahraptor. Utahraptor appears in the Walking with Dinosaurs series shown hunting a herd of the herbivore Iguanodon. It is shown inaccurately with no feathers, pronated hands, and most inaccurately of all, living in Europe. Primeval: New World Utahraptor. Jurassic Fight Club Utahraptor.
How big is the Utahraptor?
Utahraptor was a very large dromaeosaur, one of the biggest members of its' family. It was about 1.7-2 meters tall, 6-7 meters long, and weighed about 1,000 pounds/453 kg. It lived from 131 to 126 mya during the Barremian Stage of the early Cretaceous and is closely related to Achillobator and Dromaeosaurus. Its skeletal design was birdlike; with bones that were hollow, but strong. Recent fossil discoveries of more complete skeletons of Utahraptor by James Kirkland et al. paint a picture also of a dromaeosaur that was more heavily-built and stocky than the "typical" Deinonychus body plan generally associated with other dromaeosaurs. The legs were short and stocky, while the tail was also relatively short in comparison to that of related forms. The jaws were most unusual, with the front of the lower jaw bent forward and down in a case of convergence with the unrelated Masiakasaurus .
What is the Utahraptor in Primeval?
A Utahraptor is set to appear in Primeval: New World, where it fights a Pteranodon. An accurate version of Utahraptor appears in Dinosaur Revolution, and its film version, Dinotasia as a predator of Cedarosaurus. The novel Raptor Red focuses on a female Utahraptor named Red.
What dinosaurs did the Utahraptor prey on?
In the formations where it was found (the Yellow Cat and Poison Strip members of the Cedar Mountain Formation, respectively), Utahraptor lived alongside such dinosaurs that it preys on such as Gastonia, Iguanodon, Hippodraco, Cedrorestes, Iguanacolossus, Martharaptor, and Falcarius.
What dinosaurs disappeared during the Cretaceous?
At that point, as the Cretaceous period yielded to the Paleogene, it seems that all nonavian dinosaurs suddenly ceased to exist. Along with them went fearsome marine reptiles such as the mosasaurs, ichthyosaurs, and plesiosaurs, as well as all the flying reptiles known as pterosaurs.
How long ago did the dinosaurs die?
Learn about the mass extinction event 66 million years ago and the evidence for what ended the age of the dinosaurs.
How many dinosaurs were there on Earth?
Over a thousand dinosaur species once roamed the Earth. Learn which ones were the largest and the smallest, what dinosaurs ate and how they behaved, as well as surprising facts about their extinction.
What is the most well known theory for the death of dinosaurs?
In 1980, these two scientists proposed the notion that a meteor the size of a mountain slammed into Earth 66 million years ago, filling the atmosphere with gas, dust, and debris that drastically altered the climate.
What dinosaur lived 99 million years ago?
A small coelurosaur, a feather-tailed dinosaur that lived 99 million years ago, approaches a resin-coated branch on the forest floor in an illustration. Chung-tat Cheung.
Is there evidence for a meteor impact?
However, other scientists maintain that the evidence for a massive meteor impact event is inconclusive, and that the more likely culprit may be Earth itself.
Is volcanoes a cause of extinction?
Other research has found evidence for mass die-offs much earlier than 66 million years ago, with some signs that dinosaurs in particular were already in a slow decline in the late Cretaceous. What’s more, volcanic activity is frequent on this planet and is a plausible culprit for other ancient extinctions, while giant meteor strikes are much more rare. This all makes sense, supporters say, if ongoing volcanic eruptions were the root cause of the world-wide K-Pg extinctions.
Who excavated the Utahraptor?
The remains were excavated in a massive effort that has spanned more than a decade, led by Utah state paleontologist James Kirkland. (See video above for more on the excavation effort.) The recent finds include never-before-seen bones that are already changing scientific views of the Utahraptor anatomy.
What is the fossil of the Utahraptor?
All the Utahraptor fossils are contained within a large blob of sandstone that appears to have once been what geologists call a "dewatering feature," or in common terms, "quicksand," Kirkland says. After relocating the site, Kirkland found that the hollow bone was actually part of a dinosaur foot. And there was more.
What did Kirkland think of the Cretaceous drama?
Kirkland thinks that the Cretaceous drama played out like this: An unwary iguanodont stumbled into the quicksand, bellowing and struggling. If this didn't attract carnivores, then "that nice meaty smell would have," Kirkland says, like flies to flypaper. One Utahraptor after another tried to nab an easy meal and only ended up getting stuck, adding to the deathly aroma.
What dinosaurs died in Utah?
Utah's Dinosaur 'Death Trap' Reveals Trove of Giant Predators. A bed of quicksand entombed six or more Utahraptor dinosaurs—Velociraptor cousins—that may have died while hunting together. A nine-ton block of sandstone that was pulled from a Utah mountain late last year holds the biggest fossil trove ever found of the giant predatory dinosaur known ...
How many dinosaurs are in Utah?
Scientists have found the remains of six Utahraptor dinosaurs in the rock so far, and more may be trapped there.
Why is Kirkland looking for dinosaurs?
Because Kirkland's facilities at the Department of Natural Resources aren't large enough, he's on a search for a venue where the dinosaurs can be brought out of the rock bone by bone , in public view. After waiting 125 million years to spill their secrets, the bones can wait a few more.
How long is a baby Utahraptor?
And there was more. By chipping off smaller pieces of the block, Kirkland and his team uncovered bones from a 16- foot-long adult Utahraptor, four juveniles, and a baby that would have been only about three feet long from snout to tail. Other bones at the site belong to a beaked, bipedal herbivore called an iguanodont.
Overview
Utahraptor (meaning "Utah's predator") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid dinosaur that lived in North America during the Early Cretaceous period. It was a heavy-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore. It contains a single species, Utahraptor ostrommaysi, which is one of the largest-known member of the family Dromaeosauridae, measuring 4.9–5.5 m (16–18 ft) long and weighing 2…
Discovery and naming
The first specimens of Utahraptor were found in 1975 by Jim Jensen in the Dalton Wells Quarry in east-central Utah, near the town of Moab, but did not receive much attention. After a find of a large foot-claw by Carl Limone in October 1991, James Kirkland, Robert Gaston, and Donald Burge uncovered further remains of Utahraptor in 1991 in the Gaston Quarry in Grand County, Utah, within the Yell…
Description
The holotype of Utahraptor, CEUM 184v.86 consists of a second pedal ungual, with potentially assigned elements from other specimens: pedal ungual CEUM 184v.294, tibia CEUM 184v.260 and premaxilla CEUM 184v.400. These elements have huge proportions compared to other dromaeosaurids, suggesting an animal about twice the length of Deinonychus. Like other dromaeosaurids, Uta…
Paleobiology
Kirkland et al. noted that given the huge size of Utahraptor, it was not fast as Deinonychus and Velociraptor, instead, it would have had a similar speed to the contemporary iguanodonts, and being faster than sauropods. Additionally, the thickness of the tibia indicates that the animal had a significant leg force in order to kill prey.
Paleoecology
Utahraptor lived in the lower part of the Cedar Mountain Formation, a bed known as the Yellow Cat Member. According to the authors of its description, Utahraptor had an important ecological role as a major carnivore of the paleofauna of the present-day Arches region during the Early Cretaceous, and could probably attack prey larger than itself. Group hunting of individuals of at least 3.5 m (11 ft) and 70 kg (150 lb), if proven, could have killed 8 m (26 ft) prey of a weight of 1 …
Cultural significance
Raptor Red was published in 1995, and features the fictionalized story of a female Utahraptor. Written by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, it was positively regarded by mainstream reviewers, though updates to the science have rendered some of the story line facts presented untrue and the paleontology community was critical of fossil record inaccuracies. Bakker's anthropomorphosis of the titular Red was particularly praised.
See also
• Timeline of dromaeosaurid research
External links
• Media related to Utahraptor at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Utahraptor at Wikispecies
• Utahraptor Project page at Facebook
• Utahraptor skeletal reconstruction by Scott Hartman