| Dakotaraptor | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| General information | |||
| Aliases | "Ghost of the forest" | ||
| Classification | Dakotaraptor steini | ||
| Scientific synonyms | †Acheroraptor (unlikely but possible) | ||
| Homeworld | Earth | ||
| Environment | Hell Creek formation | ||
| Intelligence | Non-sapient | ||
| Biochemistry | Carbon based | ||
| Discovered | 2015 | ||
| Discoverer | Robert A. DePalma | ||
| Biological information | |||
| Reproduction | Sexual; Layed leathery eggs | ||
| Average height | 1.8 meters (6 ft) | ||
| Average weight | 150 kg (480 lbs) | ||
| Average length | 5.5 meters (18 ft) | ||
| Locomotion | Bipedal, walking | ||
| Feeding behavior | Carnivorous | ||
| Prey | Small ornithopods, smaller theropods | ||
| Predators | †Tyrannosaurus | ||
| Lineage information | |||
| Related species | †Dromaeosaurus, †Utahraptor | ||
| Cultural information | |||
| Sociocultral characteristics | |||
| Scientific taxonomy | |||
| Domain | Eukaryota | ||
| Kingdom | Animalia | ||
| Phylum | Chordata | ||
| Class | Sauropsida | ||
| Order | Saurischia | ||
| Suborder | Theropoda | ||
| Family | †Dromaeosauridae | ||
| Subfamily | †Dromaeosaurinae | ||
| Genus | †Dakotaraptor | ||
| Species | †D. Steini | ||
| Other information | |||
| Status | Extinct | ||
Dakotaraptor (Thief from Dakota) was a large dromaeosaurid from western north america in the late cretaceous. Dakotaraptor fossils have been dated to the very end of the cretaceous period, making dakotaraptor one of the last dromaeosaurids. Dakotaraptor fossils were found in the hell creek formation, meaning they lives alongside more famous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops.
Physiology[]
Dakotaraptor was one the larger Dromaeosaurids, though being smaller than the more famous Utahraptor or Achillobator, being around as tall as a human. Like it's relatives, it's body would have likely been covered in feathers not too disimilair to those of modern bird of prey, with it's arms resembling bird wings, this detail being known due to quill knobs present on it's fore arms, being the largest dinosaur to posses them, though these animals would have definetely been incapable of flight. It's skull was most likely boxy in shape full of sharp teeth, similairly to most of it's relatives, although it's skulls have never been properly discovered. Just like their relatives, they had a large sickle claw on their middle toes, being around 16 centimeters.
It's overall build was strangely fairly lightly build, more akin to smaller dromaeosaurs like Deinonychus rather than the similairly sized Utahraptor, making it most likely far more agile than it's larger relative. It would have been built for ambushing and pouncing on it's prey, using it's sickle claws to keep themselves stables. The animals had seemingly alot of sexual dimorphism, as 2 morphs are known to exist, one gracile and one robust, though it's unknown to which gender either form corresponded to
Behaviour[]
These animals would have lived in the dense forests of Hell Creek up to 66 mya. They were likely solitary, though they may have lived in small familial units, likely caring for their young for a long time like modern birds do. They were seemingly fairly rare in the regions they occupied, having to compete with subadult Tyrannosaurus which were around the same size, though not having much competition outside of that as adult T.Rex would have occupied an entirely different niche, while other predators, such as Pectinodon, would have been so small in comparison where they themselves may have fallen prey to these animals. Dakotaraptors, would have likely been pursuit predators, chasing their prey until they'd jump on it and tackle it with teeth and claws. They'd likely primarily prey on animals of smaller or similair size, such as Pachycephalosaurus, Ornithomimus or Anzu.
Trivia[]
- It was seemingly a rare species, as it was only very recently discovered in 2017 in the well known Hell Creek formation. Due to this, some have scientists have given it the nickname "ghost of the forest", both due to it's rarity and the nature of the ecoystem in which it lived.
- Some suggest it may have been a synonym of Acheroraptor, a smaller Dromaeosaur from the same location, with many confirmed adult Dakotaraptors differing in size greatly. However the only overlapping feature between the 2, the teeth, differed from each other as Dakotaraptor possessed vertical ridges on the tooth crowns.
Gallery[]
