Utahraptor (name meaning "Utah Thief") is a genus of large dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that originated during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now North America. By far the the largest dromaeosaur (or raptor) that ever lived, Utahraptor is undoubtedly the most terrifying creature of all time.
Thought to have been extinct for 103 million years, there are still large packs of Utahraptor that remain alive on Primeval Island.
Facts[]
Era & Region[]
Utahraptor first appeared in western North America during the Early Cretaceous period and even lived through to the Middle Cretaceous, between 135 to 103 million years ago. While smaller than many of the predators of the time, due to its large size, Utahraptor was one of the apex predators of its environment. It lived alongside other animals such as Deinonychus, Iguanodon, and Pteranodon.
Discovery & Range[]
Hence its name, the first specimens of Utahraptor were found in 1975 by Jim Jensen in the Dalton Wells Quarry in east-central Utah, near the town of Moab, but did not receive much attention at the time.
Around 15 years later, after finding a large foot-claw by Carl Limoni in October 1991, James Kirkland, Robert Gaston, and Donald Burge uncovered further remains of Utahraptor in the Gaston Quarry in Grand County, Utah, within the Yellow Cat and Poison Strip members of the Cedar Mountain Formation. Therefore, Utahraptor is known from a well-preserved skeleton found in 1991 in Utah, USA and fragmentary remains from South America.
In 2018, it was proposed that Utahraptor be the Utah state dinosaur, an act that was approved by the Senate. Initially Utahraptor would have replaced another dinosaur, Allosaurus, as the state's official fossil, but it was decided that Utahraptor would be another symbol of the state.
Physical Attributes[]
A species of dromaeosaur notable by their enormous size, Utahraptor stood 6 – 8 feet (2 – 2.4 m) tall, measured 16.5 – 23 feet (5 – 7 m) in length, and weighed in at over 500 – 700 kg (1,100 – 1,543 lbs.), comparable in size to a large polar bear. This makes Utahraptor the largest and strongest dromaeosaur that ever existed. Utahraptor was sexually dimorphic, with the females having a brown color with translucent green eyes (similar to crocodiles) while the males had a coloration similar to that of a tiger with yellow eyes. Their body build is muscular, but relatively slim and lean, fitting their consistently active lifestyle. Although it was a very fast, agile, and flexible theropod dinosaur, able to reach speeds of up to 20 – 28 mph (32 – 45 km/h) and leap an amazing 15 feet (4.7 m) into the air, Utahraptor had the short legs of a sprinter and therefore, it did not pursue its prey for very long. Despite it large size, Utahraptor could crouch down to the ground, which gave it the ability to use even the slightest cover if needed. Without being seen, it could peer over cover while remaining hidden.
Utahraptor had large eyes coupled with excellent vision that allowed them to see in the dark and long grasping hands with large, sharp ripping claws. Its toe joints were specially enlarged so that its massive claw could be raised upward and backward to avoid damage while running. The unique wrist-joints of Utahraptor allowed the hands to pivot sideways, an action similar to the folding of a bird's wing. But when used in an attack, its huge slashing claw flexed forward as the animal kicked out. Swinging in a wide arc, its huge, 9 – 15 inch (22 – 38 cm) sickle-shaped slashing claw would produce terrible wounds, enabling Utahraptor to cripple and kill animals much larger than itself. With lethal claws, these killers were well-armed, and long fingers allowed them to latch onto swift-moving, larger prey.
Behavior & Traits[]
Unquestionably the most terrifying creature that ever walked the earth, Utahraptor was an extremely aggressive, very cunning, and highly intelligent theropod dinosaur, being able to ambush, startle, and then attack their prey, despite being small in comparison to most of the dinosaurs they hunted. Like many predatory dinosaurs and all species of raptors, even Utahraptor was a social dinosaur that lived and hunted in packs; in numbers from a minimum of 3 to as many as 12 individuals in a single pack, from full-grown adults to assorted young. Lead by Alpha, Utahraptor lived in jungles, open grasslands, and alpine environments, as the thick forests and rocks provide cover for them and nests for their young. Utahraptor nests were dug out amid the roots of giant jungle trees. All chicks were the responsibility of the entire pack, who brought back food for the young. While out hunting, a single guard or even two would remain behind, watching over the nest. Utahraptor was a deadly and vicious predator, able to quickly and brutally kill their prey. Their hunting territories were large and well-marked, with a mixture of tree scrapings, urine, feces, and the like.
When hunting, Utahraptor preferred to stalk and follow their prey unseen under the cover of vegetation and/or darkness, before emerging from their cover and swiftly closing in for the kill. Surprisingly, Utahraptor would sometimes conceal themselves for an ambush by burying themselves in rubble in the area. They would ambush their prey, getting as close as possible before bursting out of cover and chasing down its prey. Relying mostly on stealth when hunting, they were very efficient at using the terrain of their region to their advantage and would chase prey into canyons or over low cliffs. They also had a hard time going without a kill for more than a week. Whenever they made a kill, they ate as much as 100 kilograms in each sitting. Whenever they ate, there was a strict pecking order in their feasts, and the large adults come first, whereas the younger and weaker Utahraptors would be nearby and have to wait their turn. Because of their large size, Utahraptor hunted anything from animals as small as the Hypsilophodonts to even small sauropods.
Trivia[]
- The sound effects of Utahraptor are that of cheetah, cougar, Turok Dilophosaurus, jaguar, leopard, and Peter Jackson's King Kong Venatosaurus sound effects.