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Utahraptor (Utahraptor ostrommaysorum) · scientific reconstructionView original image

This is an original generative reconstruction, not a photograph or scientific plate.

Utahraptor

Utahraptor ostrommaysorum

This huge, robust dromaeosaur used strength and a curved second-toe claw to control prey.

Structured expansion · editorial review pending

Time range
About 135–130 million years ago
Final stage
Early Cretaceous
Geographic range
Western North America · Present-day Utah

What was Utahraptor?

This archive records Utahraptor under the scientific name Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, with an age of About 135–130 million years ago and a range of Western North America · Present-day Utah. This huge, robust dromaeosaur used strength and a curved second-toe claw to control prey.

Utahraptor had a deep skull, powerful legs and a large sickle claw. Feathers are inferred from close relatives; a multi-age bonebed records a shared death event but does not by itself prove cooperative hunting.

Utahraptor at a glance

Scientific name
Utahraptor ostrommaysorum
Age
About 135–130 million years ago
Last recorded stage
Early Cretaceous
Known range
Western North America · Present-day Utah
Broad group
dinosaur
Archive era
Mesozoic
Habitat signals
vegetation, prey communities, floodplains and regional climate
Documented regions
North America

How was Utahraptor built?

Overall body plan

This huge, robust dromaeosaur used strength and a curved second-toe claw to control prey.

Skull, teeth and display structures

The available record is interpreted through preserved proportions, attachment surfaces, wear and comparison with related organisms. For Utahraptor, those observations must be separated from features added only for visual reconstruction.

Limbs, balance and locomotion

Utahraptor had a deep skull, powerful legs and a large sickle claw. Feathers are inferred from close relatives; a multi-age bonebed records a shared death event but does not by itself prove cooperative hunting.

Growth and individual variation

A single specimen does not define the whole species. Size, maturity, preservation and possible sex differences are considered before anatomical traits are treated as typical of Utahraptor.

EukaryotaAnimaliaChordataDinosauriaUtahraptor ostrommaysorum

How did Utahraptor live?

Utahraptor had a deep skull, powerful legs and a large sickle claw. Feathers are inferred from close relatives; a multi-age bonebed records a shared death event but does not by itself prove cooperative hunting. This ecological reconstruction is strongest where anatomy, associated organisms and the depositional setting point in the same direction.

What shaped its ecological limits?

Its populations depended on vegetation, prey communities, floodplains and regional climate. Changes in any one factor did not necessarily cause immediate extinction, but interacting pressures could reduce range, recruitment and resilience.

Where and when did Utahraptor live?

This archive currently lists About 135–130 million years ago; Western North America · Present-day Utah. Fossil or historical occurrence data describe where evidence has been found, not every place the taxon once occupied. Species-level age and range limits still require source-specific review.

01

Documented geographic range

Western North America · Present-day Utah. This boundary can change when specimens are reidentified or new localities are published.

02

Time window

About 135–130 million years ago, with the final recorded stage listed as Early Cretaceous. Rock units and dating uncertainty mean the true biological range may extend beyond the known record.

03

Environmental setting

The archive uses the broad habitat labels vegetation, prey communities, floodplains and regional climate. These labels help explore related records; a habitat reconstruction requires evidence from individual localities.

What evidence supports reconstructions of Utahraptor?

01

Primary record

Claws, skull pieces, limb bones and a crowded block of individuals define its size and growth.

02

Comparative anatomy

Preserved structures are compared with close and functionally similar organisms. The method can constrain posture and function, but analogy alone cannot prove colour, behaviour or soft tissue.

03

Age and locality

Stratigraphy and occurrence records place Utahraptor within About 135–130 million years ago and Western North America · Present-day Utah. Reworked fossils and uncertain provenance are treated cautiously.

04

Open entity records

Links below connect the archive to available taxonomic and occurrence records. A matching name does not verify every ecological claim, and related-taxon links provide comparison rather than an exact species match.

Why did Utahraptor disappear?

Its direct cause of disappearance within changing Early Cretaceous ecosystems is unknown.

The last fossil or observation marks the youngest evidence currently known, not necessarily the death of the final individual. Explanations are strongest when timing, environmental change and population biology agree; otherwise the profile preserves uncertainty instead of assigning a single dramatic cause.

Utahraptor FAQ

What was Utahraptor?

This archive records Utahraptor under the scientific name Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, with an age of About 135–130 million years ago. This huge, robust dromaeosaur used strength and a curved second-toe claw to control prey.

When did Utahraptor live?

The current archive range is About 135–130 million years ago; its youngest recorded stage is Early Cretaceous.

Where was Utahraptor found?

The archive currently lists Western North America · Present-day Utah. Species-level locality assignments and the full geographic range still require source-specific review.

How do scientists know about Utahraptor?

Claws, skull pieces, limb bones and a crowded block of individuals define its size and growth.

Check the source record

Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.

How has this record changed?

  1. Completed an AI-assisted bilingual audit of the archive record, corrected identified issues and clarified evidence limits; independent editorial review is pending.
  2. Expanded into a structured bilingual profile with anatomy, ecology, range, evidence, debate and FAQs; independent editorial review is pending.
  3. Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
  4. Initial bilingual species record published.

Found an error or a better source?

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