Pyroraptor
Name:
Pyroraptor
(Fire thief).
Phonetic: Pie-roe-rap-tor.
Named By: Allain & Taquet - 2000.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae.
Species: P. olympius (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete remains.
Known locations: France, Provence.
Time period: Late Campanian/Early Maastrichtian of
the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Arm, feet, some vertebrae
and teeth.
Pyroraptor
acquired its name from the circumstances of its discovery. In 1992
the partially preserved remains of this dinosaur where discovered
after a forest fire had swept through the area. Despite the very
incomplete remains it has been possible to identify Pyroraptor
as a
distinct genus from the unique form of the sickle-shaped claws,
features that are common to dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Another common
feature of the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs is the presence of primitive
feathers on the body, something that Pyroraptor
is also thought to
have had despite the current lack of evidence proving it did.
From
the same of region of France that Pyroraptor hails
from, another
dromaeosaurid named Variraptor
has also been named. In the past there
has been speculation that Pyroraptor may actually
just be further
remains of Variraptor which is also known from very
incomplete
remains. A 2009 study by Phomphen Chanthasit however pointed out
differences in the shape of the ulnas (lower arm bones) that seems
to support keeping Pyroraptor and Variraptor
as separate genera.
Pyroraptor
was one of the main dinosaurs featured in the 2003 Discovery
Channel TV series Dinosaur Planet (not to be confused with 2011
BBC series Planet Dinosaur). The episode titled Pod’s Travels
shows a speculative reconstruction where a lone Pyroraptor
named Pod
gets stranded upon a small island after a Tsunami, where he comes
into contact with much smaller dwarf forms of the dinosaurs that he
knew from the mainland including Magyarosaurus
and Tarascosaurus.
Further reading
- A new genus of
Dromaeosauridae (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of
France. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20(2):404-407. - R. Allain
& P. Taquet - 2000.
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