Megaraptor
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Extinct (fossil)
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| Megaraptor namunhuaiquii Novas, 1998 |
Megaraptor ("giant thief") was once thought to be the largest dromaeosaur ever found, but is now known to be a carnosaur related to Allosaurus. It lived in Late Cretaceous times in the Patagonian region of Argentina. It was a contemporary of Giganotosaurus, one of largest carnivorous dinosaurs of all time.
[edit] Identification
Megaraptor was initially described as a giant dromaeosaur (Novas, 1998). It was known primarily from a single claw, about 1ft long, that resembled the sickle-shaped foot claw of dromaeosaurids. The discovery of a complete front limb, however, showed that this giant claw actually came from the first finger of a carnosaur's hand (Calvo et al., 2004). The hand is still quite different from other carnosaurs, so it is not clear whether Megaraptor is an allosaurid, a carcharodontosaurid, a megalosauroid, or something else entirely.
It should be noted that, when first discovered and prior to publication, the spinosaurid Baryonyx was also reported to be a dromaeosaur, again based on a large hand claw. It can be viewed at Fernbank Science Center in Atlanta, GA.
[edit] References
- Calvo, J. O., Porfiri, J.D., Veralli, C., Novas, F.E., and Poblete, F. (2004). Phylogenetic status of Megaraptor namunhuaiquii Novas based on a new specimen from Neuquén, Patagonia, Argentina. Ameghiniana 41:565-575.
- Novas, F.E. (1998). Megaraptor namunhuaiquii, gen. et sp. nov., a large-clawed, Late Cretaceous theropod from Patagonia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18:4-9.
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