Dracoraptor
Dracoraptor was a small, fast meat-eating dinosaur that lived near the sea in what is now Wales. It had sharp, serrated teeth about one centimetre long for catching small animals. Scientists think it may have lived on the shoreline, hunting and scavenging.21
When did it live?
How big was it?
How long was it?
How tall was it?
at the hips for the juvenile
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Fun facts
Its name comes from the Welsh dragon, because it was found in Wales.1
The fossil was discovered in 2014 by brothers Nick and Rob Hanigan, along with Sam Davies, on a beach at Lavernock Point.1
Dracoraptor had three teeth in the front of its upper jaw, which is unusual for a theropod.2
Its skeleton was found in marine rocks, so scientists think the carcass washed out to sea from a nearby island.2
Dracoraptor was a fast runner because of its small size and long legs.1
Most asked questions about Dracoraptor
?How big was Dracoraptor?
The fossil found is a juvenile about 2.1 metres (6.9 feet) long with a hip height of 70 centimetres (28 inches). Adults may have grown to about 3 metres (9.8 feet) long.1
?What did Dracoraptor eat?
Dracoraptor was a meat-eater. It had small, sharp, serrated teeth about one centimetre long, so it probably ate small animals like lizards, insects and small mammals.13
?When did Dracoraptor live?
Dracoraptor lived about 201 million years ago, during the earliest part of the Jurassic Period. It is one of the oldest known Jurassic dinosaurs.1
?Where was Dracoraptor found?
Its fossils were discovered in 2014 on a beach at Lavernock Point in South Wales, near the town of Penarth. The bones had fallen from a cliff onto the shore.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Dracoraptor
- Named by
- Martill et al. 20164
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Coelophysoidea4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Coelophysoidea4
- Age of the rocks
- 201 to 200 million years (Hettangian)4
- Rock formations
- Blue Lias4
- Countries
- United Kingdom4
- Fossil records
- 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Dracoraptor was discovered in 2014 by fossil hunters Nick and Rob Hanigan and Sam Davies at Lavernock Point in Wales. It was named and described in 2016 by paleontologists David Martill, Steven Vidovic, Cindy Howells, and John Nudds.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure exactly which limestone layer the Dracoraptor fossil came from, so its precise age is still debated.2
Where the facts come from
- Dracoraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
- The Oldest Jurassic Dinosaur: A Basal Neotheropod from the Hettangian of Great Britain - PMC (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Dinosaurs in Wales (museum.wales)
- Dracoraptor in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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