🎨 RestorationRestoration: Fred Wierum · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Life restorations are artistic reconstructions based on fossil evidence; true coloration and soft-tissue details remain uncertain.
Utahraptor
Utahraptor ostrommaysi (Utahraptor · Utahraptor)
Known only from fossils. The IUCN Red List assesses only species extant since 1500 CE, so fossil taxa are not assigned a category.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its estimated body length of about 5.5 m (representative value for the genus) is about 1 m longer than a passenger car (about 4.5 m), and its weight of about 350 kg is roughly five adult men (about 70 kg each) (Comparison).
- 💡 The museum notes that the state of Utah designated Utahraptor as its state dinosaur in 2018 following a petition initiated by a 10-year-old student.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
Utahraptor ostrommaysi (genus Utahraptor) was a carnivorous theropod that lived in Utah, United States during the Early Cretaceous, and is the largest dinosaur in the family Dromaeosauridae. Its name means 'Utah's predator.'
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It was stockier and heavier than smaller relatives such as Velociraptor. It very likely had feathers, although there is no direct fossil evidence in this species.
🔍 3. Fossil Record & Paleoecology
It is thought to have preyed even on large plant-eating dinosaurs such as Hippodraco, and because it was not built for high-speed pursuit, it may have hunted by ambush. The first fossils were found in 1975 and studied in detail starting in 1991.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • Fossil taxon — the IUCN Red List assesses only species living or extinct since 1500
- • paleobiodb.org — basicTaxonInfo
- • wikidata.org — Q20719525
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Utahraptor Restoration.png
- • nhm.ac.uk — utahraptor.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Becky Barnes · CC0 1.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Dromaeosaurus albertensis)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.