Megaraptor
Megaraptor was a large 26 feet (8 m) long late Cretaceous dinosaur. It had two large sickle-like claws on each hand. It was a lightly built biped, with a large head and sharp, serrated teeth in powerful jaws.
| Megaraptor Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous, 98 mya
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstructed skeleton | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Class: | |
| Superorder: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| Infraorder: | |
| Superfamily: | |
| Genus: | Megaraptor Novas, 1998
|
The first fossil of Megaraptor to be discovered was one of its claws. As they strongly resembled the claws seen in Dromeosaurs, it was thought that Megaraptor was a large member of that family.[1] Later, a complete hand was discovered, revealing the main claw was on its thumb.[2]
It is now classified either as a allosauroid carnosaur, related to Neovenator, or right over on the other side of the Theropoda as a tyrannosauroid coelurosaur.[3]
Megaraptor Media
Claw cast with a ruler for scale
Size of two specimens compared to a human
Megaraptor head reconstruction based on the juvenile skull
Artistic representations of Australovenator wintonensis
Reconstitution de Megaraptor
Life reconstruction of Murusraptor barrosaensis
Orkoraptor life restoration
Tratayenia rosalesi restored in resting posture.
Aerosteon, pencil drawing, digital coloring
References
- ↑ Novas, F.E. (1998). "Megaraptor namunhuaiquii, gen. et sp. nov., a large-clawed, Late Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 18: 4–9. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011030.
- ↑ Calvo J.O.; et al. (2004). "Phylogenetic status of Megaraptor namunhuaiquii Novas based on a new specimen from Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina". Ameghiniana. 41: 565–575.
- ↑ Benson, R.B.J.; Carrano, M.T; Brusatte, S.L. (2010). "A new clade of archaic large-bodied predatory dinosaurs (Theropoda: Allosauroidea) that survived to the latest Mesozoic". Naturwissenschaften. 97 (1): 71–78. Bibcode:2010NW.....97...71B. doi:10.1007/s00114-009-0614-x. PMID 19826771. S2CID 22646156.