Utahraptor
| Utahraptor Temporal range: Early Cretaceous
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Superorder: | |
| Order: | |
| Suborder: | |
| (unranked): | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Utahraptor |
| Species | |
|
U. ostrommaysorum (Kirkland, Gaston & Burge, 1993) (type) | |
Utahraptor was a large mid-Cretaceous dromaeosaurid predator with 9-15 inch (23-38 cm) middle-toe claws.
It was a fast-moving, agile, bipedal (walked on two legs), bird-like dinosaur. It had a curved, flexible neck and a big head. Sharp, serrated teeth were set into very powerful jaws. Each of its three fingers on each arm had large, sharp, curved claw.
It had four-toed feet; the second toe had a 9-15 inch (23-38 cm) sickle-like claw and the other toes had smaller claws. Its long tail had bony rods running along the spine giving it rigidity; the tail was used for balance and fast turning ability.
It had a relatively large brain and large, keen, eyes. Utahraptor was 16-23 feet (5-7 m) long and may have weighed about .5 ton.