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Information about Utahraptor

Utahraptor
Fossil range: Early Cretaceous
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Life restoration of Utahraptor.

Life restoration of Utahraptor.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Sauropsida
Superorder:Dinosauria
Order:Saurischia
Suborder:Theropoda
Family:Dromaeosauridae
Genus:Utahraptor
Kirkland, Gaston & Burge, 1993
Species


U. ostrommaysorum (Kirkland, Gaston & Burge, 1993) (type)
Utahraptor (meaning "Utah thief") is the largest known member of the theropod dinosaur family Dromaeosauridae, and dates from the upper Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period (132-119 million years ago).



James Kirkland, Rob Gaston, and Don Burge discovered Utahraptor in 1993 in Grand County, Utah, within the Cedar Mountain Formation.[1] The type specimen is currently housed at the College of Eastern Utah, although Brigham Young University currently houses the largest collection of Utahraptor fossils.

The type species (and only known species of Utahraptor), Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, was named for the American paleontologist John Ostrom, from Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History, and Chris Mays, of Dinamation International.

Like other dromaeosaurids, Utahraptor had a huge curved claw on the second toe that could grow to 23 cm (almost 9 inches) long. The animal may have grasped its prey with its forelimbs while kicking with its hindlimbs. Recent tests on reconstructions of the smaller species Velociraptor suggest that claws of this type were used for stabbing or suffocating its prey, not slashing into their hide. Up to 6.5 meters (22 feet) long, 2 meters (over 6 feet) tall and 700 kg (1500lbs) in weight, Utahraptor would have been a formidable predator.[1]

It is thought that Utahraptor may be closely related to the much smaller Dromaeosaurus and the giant Mongolian dromaeosaurid Achillobator.[1]

In popular culture

The novel Raptor Red, by Bob Bakker, told the story of a pack of Utahraptor. Another novel, "Raptor" by Paul Zindel, featured Utahraptor, but with fictional characteristics including poison secreting from their claws. On television, Utahraptor was featured in the BBC series Walking with Dinosaurs and later made an appearance in . The carnivore made an appearance in the popular video game . The webcomic Dinosaur Comics also features the image of a Utahraptor.

References

1. ^ Kirkland, J.I., Burge, D., and Gaston, R. (1993). "A large dromaeosaur [Theropoda] from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah." Hunteria, 2(10): 1-16.

External links

The Early Cretaceous (timestratigraphic name) or the Lower Cretaceous (logstratigraphic name), is the earlier of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous Period. It began about 146 million years ago.
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Sauropsida*
Goodrich, 1916

Subclasses
  • Anapsida
  • Diapsida
Synonyms
  • Reptilia Laurenti, 1768
Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class
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Dinosauria *
Owen, 1842

Orders & Suborders
  • Ornithischia
  • Cerapoda
  • Thyreophora
  • Saurischia

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Saurischia
Seeley, 1887

Suborders
  • Theropoda
  • Sauropodomorpha


Saurischia (from the Greek sauros (σαυρος) meaning 'lizard' and ischion (
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Theropoda
Marsh, 1881

Infraorders
  • Carnosauria
  • Ceratosauria
  • Deinonychosauria
  • Ornithomimosauria
  • Oviraptorosauria


Theropods ('beast feet') are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs.
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Dromaeosauridae
Matthew & Brown, 1922

Genera

See text.

Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were mainly small, gracile carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period.
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James Ian Kirkland (born 1954) is an American paleontologist and geologist. He has worked with dinosaur remains from the south west United States of America and has been responsible for discovering new and important genera.
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species is one of the basic units of biological classification. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
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In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question, a type may be a specimen, culture, illustration, description or taxon.
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State of Utah

Flag of Utah Seal
Nickname(s): Beehive State
Motto(s): "Industry"

Official language(s) English

Capital Salt Lake City
Largest city Salt Lake City

Area
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Theropoda
Marsh, 1881

Infraorders
  • Carnosauria
  • Ceratosauria
  • Deinonychosauria
  • Ornithomimosauria
  • Oviraptorosauria


Theropods ('beast feet') are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs.
..... Click the link for more information.
Dinosauria *
Owen, 1842

Orders & Suborders
  • Ornithischia
  • Cerapoda
  • Thyreophora
  • Saurischia

..... Click the link for more information.
Dromaeosauridae
Matthew & Brown, 1922

Genera

See text.

Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They were mainly small, gracile carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period.
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The Barremian faunal stage was a period of geological time between 130.0 ± 1.5 Ma and 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago). It is considered to be of the early Cretaceous period.
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Faunal stages are subdivisions of rock layers used primarily by paleontologists who study fossils rather than by geologists who study rock formations. Typically, a faunal stage will consist of a series of rocks that contain similar fossils.
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The Cretaceous Period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic Period (i.e. from 145.5 ± 4.0 million years ago (Ma)) to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary Period (about 65.5 ± 0.3 Ma).
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James Ian Kirkland (born 1954) is an American paleontologist and geologist. He has worked with dinosaur remains from the south west United States of America and has been responsible for discovering new and important genera.
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Grand County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of 2000 the population was 8,485, and by 2005 had been estimated at 8,743. It was named for the Colorado River, which at the time was known as the Grande River.
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State of Utah

Flag of Utah Seal
Nickname(s): Beehive State
Motto(s): "Industry"

Official language(s) English

Capital Salt Lake City
Largest city Salt Lake City

Area
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The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to distinctive sedimentary rocks in eastern Utah that occur between the underlying Morrison Formation and overlying Naturita Formation (sometimes incorrectly called the Dakota Formation).
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In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question, a type may be a specimen, culture, illustration, description or taxon.
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College of Eastern Utah (CEU) is a two-year college located in Price, Utah.

Admission

CEU has an open admissions policy which means that if one applies to CEU and has graduated from high school, or has earned a GED, he or she will be accepted.
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Brigham Young University (BYU), located in Provo, Utah, is the flagship university of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church).

About 98% of the students at BYU are Mormon and two-thirds of the students come from outside the state of Utah.
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In biology, a type is that which fixes a name to a taxon. Depending on the nomenclature code which is applied to the organism in question, a type may be a specimen, culture, illustration, description or taxon.
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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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Palaeontology redirects here. For the scientific journal, see Palaeontology (journal).


Paleontology, palaeontology or palæontology (from Greek: paleo, "ancient"; ontos
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John H. Ostrom (February 18, 1928 – July 16, 2005) was an American paleontologist who revolutionized modern understanding of dinosaurs in the 1960s, when he demonstrated that dinosaurs are more like big non-flying birds than they are like lizards (or "saurians"), an idea
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