Utahraptor - Jurassic Beings
In the movie Jurassic Park large raptors ran around preying on people, animals and whatever else they could get their sharp teeth on. In the movie they were called Velociraptors but they were really way bigger than real Velociraptors. The raptors in the movie looked a lot more like Utahraptors.
Utahraptors - Dangerous Dinos
Like Velociraptor, Utahraptor had scary looking claws on its toes. It was a mean looking dino about 20 feet tall (6.5 meters) that walked on two feet. Its long tail was used for balance and helped it make quick turns - no dodging this dino. Utahraptor had a flexible neck, a big head and large, sharp eyes. Its powerful jaws were lined with sharp, jagged teeth. Each of its three fingers on each arm had a large, sharp curved claw. These deadly things would have shred through almost any dinosaur. If that wasn't scary enough the second toe had a nine to 15 inch (25-35 cm) claw. That's longer than the inside of your elbow to your wrist. Utahraptor's other toes had smaller claws.
What's For Dinner at Utahraptors?
Utahraptor was a carnivore so he dined on meat. Most likely it just ate anything it could shred and tear apart. No dinosaur was safe from this predator. When it hunted in packs, Utahraptor could probably have killed any prey it wanted to. It wouldn't have done any good to try to outrun it. Utahraptors were speedy, although Velociraptors were faster.
Utahraptor Fossils
The first fossils from an Utahraptor were discovered in Moab, Utah (which is where it gets its name) in 1991. The paleontologist who found it thought he had come across an Ankylosaurus rib. After digging some more the group he was with found it was actually a claw - a huge claw. Two years later Jim Kirland had found enough bones to put together the first Utahraptor skeleton.
Related Stories:
- Corythosaurus: Dino With The Crest
- Ankylosaurus: One 'Fused' Dino
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- More Amazing Dinosaurs!
