Megaraptor
| Megaraptor Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous, 98 mya
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| Genus: | Megaraptor Novas, 1998
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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.
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]
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References[change | change source]
- ↑ 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.