Name:
Linheraptor
(Linhe hunter).
Phonetic: Lin-heh-rap-tor.
Named By: Xu Xing et al. - 2010.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Deinonychosauria, Dromaeosauridae,
Velociraptorinae.
Species: L. exquisitus
(type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: 1.8 meters long.
Known locations: Mongolia - Wulansuhai Formation.
Time period: Campanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Single almost complete
skeleton.
Smaller
velociraptorine dromaeosaurs
seem to have been one of the most
important types of dinosaur in Asia during the Late Cretaceous as
evidenced by the ever growing number of remains and genera.
Linheraptor was similar in form to most others such
as Velociraptor
and it may have lived and hunted in pretty much the same way as them,
principally using the enlarged sickle-shaped claws on their second
toes as their main killing weapons. In depth analysis of these
dinosaurs has revealed that Linheraptor is probably
most closely
related to the dinosaur Tsaagan.
Linheraptor
is a reference to the Linhe district of Mongolia where the holotype
remains were found (another dinosaur named after this district is
Linhenykus). The species name L.
exquisitus is in recognition of
the exceptionally well preserved remains of the holotype.
Further reading
- A new dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous
Wulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. - Zootaxa 2403:1-9. - X.
Xu, J. N. Choiniere, M. Pittman, Q. Tan, D. Xiao, Z. Li, J. M. Clark,
M. A. Norell, D. W. E. Hone & C. Sullivan - 2010.
- The taxonomic status of the Late Cretaceous dromaeosaurid Linheraptor
exquisitus and its implications for dromaeosaurid
systematics. -
Vertebrata PalAsiatica. 53 (1): 29–62. - Xu Xing, Michael Pittman,
Corwin Sullivan, Jonah N. Choiniere, Qing Wei Tan, James M. Clark, Mark
A. Norell & Wang Shuo - 2015.