Sinraptor
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 Skeleton of Sinraptor hepingensis
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Extinct (fossil)
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Sinraptor is the name given to a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name Sinraptor comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning East Asian, and "Raptor" meaning thief. The specific name dongi honours Dong Zhiming. Despite its name, Sinraptor is not related to dromaeosaurids (often nicknamed "raptors") like Velociraptor.
Uncovered by Philip J. Currie and Xian Zhao during a joint Chinese/Canadian expedition to the Northwestern Chinese desert in 1987. Standing nearly ten feet tall and measuring roughly twenty-five feet in length, two species of Sinraptor have been named--S. dongi, the type species, was described by Currie and Zhao in 1994. A second species, originally named Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis by Gao in 1992, may actually represent a second species of Sinraptor. Whether or not this is the case, Sinraptor and Yangchuanosaurus were close relatives, and are classified together in the family Sinraptoridae.
Cladistic analysis has suggested that small, generalized carnosaurs like Sinraptor may have led to even larger animals, such as Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus, and they were likely the ancestors or close to the ancestors of the allosaurids.
[edit] In popular culture
- The skeleton of Sinraptor hepingensis (formerly referred to Yangchuanosaurus) is on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong, China.
