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Vayuraptor

Say it: vah-YOO-rap-tor

Name means: “wind thief”1

Ate: MeatMeat-eating dinosEarly Cretaceous

Vayuraptor was a fast, meat-eating dinosaur that ran on two legs. It lived in what is now Thailand during the Early Cretaceous, about 124 million years ago. Scientists think it might have been a megaraptoran, a group of dinosaurs with big claws and long snouts.1 2

Lived

126 to 121 million years ago3

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Phu Wat Site A1, Nong Bua Lamphu Province, Thailand1 2

Food

Meat3 1

Length

4 to 4.5 m1

estimated

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 25 bananas end to end

How big was Vayuraptor compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Vayuraptor's name comes from Vayu, the Hindu god of wind, because its long, slender shin bone suggests it was a fast runner.1

The first Vayuraptor fossils were found in 1988 by Paladej Srisuk, but the dinosaur wasn't named until 2019.1 2

Scientists know Vayuraptor from a partial skeleton, including a left shin bone with fused ankle bones, which shows it was a mature adult.1

Vayuraptor had a very tall and narrow ankle bone, with a height to width ratio of 1.66, which is unique to this dinosaur.2

Vayuraptor lived alongside other dinosaurs like Phuwiangvenator, Kinnareemimus, and Siamosaurus in the Sao Khua Formation of Thailand.1

The rocks where Vayuraptor was found are about 124 to 121 million years old, from a time called the Barremian age.1 3

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

?How big was Vayuraptor?

About 4 to 4.5 metres (13 to 15 feet) long. That is about the length of a small car.1

?What did Vayuraptor eat?

It was a meat-eater. As a possible megaraptoran, it likely used its big claws and long snout to hunt other animals.1

?How fast could Vayuraptor run?

Scientists think it was very fast because of its long, slender shin bone. The name 'wind thief' comes from this speed, but no one knows the exact speed.1

?Was Vayuraptor a dinosaur?

Yes, it was a theropod dinosaur. It walked on two legs and lived during the Early Cretaceous.1

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Vayuraptor was a type of bird-like raptor, like Velociraptor.

Truth: Vayuraptor was a coelurosaurian theropod, possibly a megaraptoran, but it was not a dromaeosaurid like Velociraptor. It had different features and lived in a different time and place.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Vayuraptor
Named by: Samathi et al. 20193
Group: Meat-eating dinos
Family / clade: Megaraptora3
Classification: Theropoda > Megaraptora3
Age of the rocks: 126 to 121 million years (Barremian)3
Rock formations: Sao Khua3
Countries: Thailand3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Vayuraptor was discovered by Paladej Srisuk in 1988 at Phu Wat Site A1 in Thailand. It was named and described by Samathi, Chanthasit, and Sander in 2019.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly where Vayuraptor fits in the dinosaur family tree. It might be a megaraptoran, but more fossils are needed to be certain.2

Where the facts come from

Vayuraptor (en.wikipedia.org)
app005402018 (app.pan.pl)
Vayuraptor 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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