Dino card No. 0313 of 2,027

Buitreraptor

Name means: “Buitrera (vulture roost) plunderer”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsEarly Cretaceous

Buitreraptor was a small, fast dinosaur that lived in what is now Argentina. It had a long, skinny snout and sharp claws, and it probably hunted lizards and other small animals.2 1

Lived

113 to 110 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

La Buitrera, Patagonia, Argentina2 1

Food

Meat1 3

Length

1.3 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

as long as 2.5 house cats nose to tailas long as 7 bananas end to end

How big was Buitreraptor compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Buitreraptor is one of the few dromaeosaurids (sickle-clawed dinosaurs) found in the Southern Hemisphere.2

It lived about 99 to 90 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Its name comes from 'La Buitrera', the fossil site in Argentina where it was discovered, which means 'vulture roost'.1

Buitreraptor was about 1.3 metres (4.3 feet) long, about the size of a modern turkey.1

It had a long, slender snout and many small teeth, which suggests it ate small, quick prey.2

Buitreraptor belongs to a group called Unenlagiinae, which are dromaeosaurids from the southern continents.3 1

AI-made picture of Buitreraptor — An AI-made picture of how Buitreraptor might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Buitreraptor

?How big was Buitreraptor?

It was small, about 1.3 to 1.5 metres (4.3 to 5 feet) long and weighed around 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds), roughly the size of a turkey.4 1

?What did Buitreraptor eat?

It ate small animals like lizards and mammals, grabbing them with its long hands and many small teeth.4

?Was Buitreraptor a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a small theropod dinosaur belonging to the dromaeosaurid group.4 1

?When did Buitreraptor live?

It lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 111 to 90 million years ago.4 1

?Did Buitreraptor have feathers?

No fossil feathers have been found with Buitreraptor, but because its close relatives had feathers, scientists think it was probably feathered.4

?Where was Buitreraptor found?

It was found in Patagonia, Argentina at a fossil site called La Buitrera, which means 'vulture roost'.4 1 2

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Buitreraptor
Named by: Makovicky et al. 20055
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae5
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae5
Age of the rocks: 113 to 110 million years (Albian)5
Rock formations: Candeleros5
Countries: Argentina5
Fossil records: 3 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Buitreraptor was named by Peter Makovicky, Sebastián Apesteguía, and Federico Agnolín in 2005, based on a nearly complete skeleton found in Patagonia, Argentina.2 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating whether Buitreraptor and its relatives belong in the family Dromaeosauridae or in a separate family called Unenlagiidae.3

Where the facts come from

Buitreraptor | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America | Nature (nature.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Buitreraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
Buitreraptor in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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