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Graciliraptor

Say it: gra-SIL-ih-RAP-tor

Name means: “graceful thief”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsEarly Cretaceous

Graciliraptor was a tiny, feather-covered dinosaur that lived about 126 million years ago. It was a fast runner with long legs and a long tail, and it probably hunted small animals like lizards and early mammals.1 3

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Lujiatun village, Beipiao, Liaoning Province, China1 3

Food

Meat3

Length

0.9 to 1 m1

estimates vary

Weight

1.5 kg1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 12 bananas

as long as 2 house cats nose to tailas long as 6 bananas end to endlighter than a house catas heavy as 12 bananas

How big was Graciliraptor compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Graciliraptor is the oldest named dromaeosaurid dinosaur known from good fossil remains.1

Its tail bones were very long and slender, and a thin sheet of bone connected them, making the tail stiff.1

Graciliraptor had features similar to early birds, like long tail bones and a small wrist bone that mainly touched the second finger.2

It was extremely lightly built, with long lower leg bones that helped it run fast.1

Graciliraptor lived in the same time and place as other early dromaeosaurs like Sinornithosaurus and Microraptor, but in slightly older rocks.1

The only known fossil includes parts of the skull, nearly complete arms and legs, and ten tail vertebrae.1

AI-made picture of Graciliraptor — An AI-made picture of how Graciliraptor 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 Graciliraptor

?How big was Graciliraptor?

It was about 90 centimetres (3 feet) long, or maybe up to 1 metre and 1.5 kilograms. That is about as long as a skateboard.1

?Did Graciliraptor have feathers?

Yes, it was a feather-covered dinosaur. Its close relatives like Microraptor had feathers, so scientists think Graciliraptor did too.1

?What did Graciliraptor eat?

It probably hunted small animals like lizards and early mammals. It was a fast-running predator with sharp teeth.1

?When did Graciliraptor live?

It lived about 126 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous Period. It is the oldest named dromaeosaurid known from good fossils.1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Graciliraptor
Named by: Xu and Wang 20043
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae3
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)3
Rock formations: Yixian3
Countries: China3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Graciliraptor was named and described in 2004 by Xu Xing and Wang Xiaoling, based on a fossil found near Lujiatun village in Liaoning, China.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Graciliraptor is related to other dromaeosaurs and to early birds.1

Where the facts come from

Graciliraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
A NEW DROMAEOSAUR (DINOSAURIA : THEROPODA) FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS YIXIAN FORMATION OF WESTERN LIAONING (vertpala.ac.cn)
Graciliraptor 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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