- Type of dinosaur:
- small theropod
- Length:
- 2.0m
- Diet:
- carnivorous
- When it lived:
- Late Cretaceous, 0-69 million years ago
- Found in:
- Canada
Atrociraptor was a meat-eating dinosaur in the dromaeosaur group. It was a relative of the well-known hunter Velociraptor.
Very few fossils have been found for Atrociraptor. So far, we only have remains for the front parts of its jaws and some teeth.
We can only guess at what the full dinosaur might have looked like based on what we know about other dromaeosaurs.
When was Atrociraptor discovered?
A fossil hunter named Wayne Marshall discovered Atrociraptor's jaw fossil in 1995 in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada.
But it wasn't until nine years later, in 2004, that scientists studied the remains and gave the dinosaur its name.
How big was Atrociraptor?
Given that we don't have much Atrociraptor fossil material to look at, it's hard to say how big the full dinosaur was.
Experts estimate it was similar in stature to the turkey-sized Velociraptor. But this may change if we find more fossils.
Did Atrociraptor have feathers?
As we've only found jaw and tooth remains for Atrociraptor, there's not yet any direct evidence that this dinosaur had feathers.
But as far as we know, all other dromaeosaurs had feathers. So Atrociraptor probably did too.
Taxonomic details
- Taxonomy:
- Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae
- Named by:
- Currie and Varricchio (2004)
- Type species:
- marshalli
