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Tianyuraptor

Say it: tee-AN-yoo-RAP-tor

Name means: “robber from the Tianyu Museum”1

Ate: MeatRaptorsEarly Cretaceous

Tianyuraptor was a medium-sized dinosaur that lived about 122 million years ago in what is now China. It had very short arms and a long tail, and it was a fast runner that hunted other animals.1

Lived

126 to 120 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Dawangzhangzi, Lingyuan, western Liaoning, China3

Food

Meat2

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Tianyuraptor had very short forelimbs, unlike many other dromaeosaurids that had long arms.1

Its tail was extremely long, measuring about 960 millimetres (38 inches), which is nearly 4.8 times the length of its thigh bone.1

Tianyuraptor had a small and slender wishbone (furcula), which is different from the larger wishbones of its flying relatives.1

Its hindlimbs were about three times as long as its backbone, making it a fast runner.1

The only known fossil of Tianyuraptor is a nearly complete skeleton, missing only the tip of the tail.1

Tianyuraptor lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 122 million years ago, in the Yixian Formation of China.1

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

?How big was Tianyuraptor?

Tianyuraptor was a medium sized dromaeosaurid, about the size of a large dog. Its tail alone measured 960 millimetres (38 inches) long.1 3

?Did Tianyuraptor have feathers?

No direct feather impressions were found on the only known fossil, but as a dromaeosaurid closely related to birds, it likely had feathers.1 3

?Could Tianyuraptor fly?

No. Its very short forelimbs, small wishbone, and wide coracoid suggest it could not glide or fly, unlike some other dromaeosaurids.1 3

?What did Tianyuraptor eat?

Tianyuraptor was a carnivore that hunted other animals. Its name means 'robber', and it was a fast runner that likely chased down small prey.1 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Tianyuraptor
Named by: Zheng et al. 20095
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Dromaeosauridae5
Classification: Theropoda > Dromaeosauridae5
Age of the rocks: 126 to 120 million years (Barremian / Aptian)5
Rock formations: Yixian5
Countries: China5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Tianyuraptor was named by Zheng and colleagues in 2009. The name comes from the Tianyu Museum of Nature, where the fossil is kept, and 'raptor' means robber. The species name ostromi honors scientist John Ostrom.1

Where the facts come from

Tianyuraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
A short-armed dromaeosaurid from the Jehol Group of China with implications for early dromaeosaurid evolution (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Tianyuraptor Facts for Kids (kids.kiddle.co)
Tianyuraptor 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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