Megaraptor
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Superorder: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Infraorder: Carnosauria?
Genus: Megaraptor Novas, 1998
Species: Megaraptor namunhuaiquii Novas, 1998 (type)

[Photo] Description in English: Originally described as a massive dromaeosaurid M. namunhuaiquii is now recognized as having been a basal tetanurine. In Deutsch: Ursprünglich als riesiger Dromaeosaurier beschrieben, wird M. namunhuaiquii mittlerweile für einen ursprünglichen Tetanuren gehalten. Source: PaleoPortfolio (www.geocities.com/paleoportfolio/gallery-m_namunhuaiquii.htm). Date: 2005. Author: Jordan Mallon.

Megaraptor ("giant thief") was once thought to be the largest dromaeosaur ever found, but is now known to be a carnosaur related to Allosaurus. It lived in Late Cretaceous times in the Patagonian region of Argentina. It was a contemporary of Giganotosaurus, one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of all time.

Identification

Megaraptor was initially described as a giant dromaeosaur, known primarily from a single claw (about 1ft long) that resembled the sickle-shaped foot claw of dromaeosaurids. The discovery of a complete front limb, however, showed that this giant claw actually came from the first finger of a carnosaur's hand. The hand is still quite different from other carnosaurs, so it is not clear whether Megaraptor is an allosaurid, a carcharodontosaurid, a megalosauroid, or something else entirely.

It should be noted that, when first discovered and prior to publication, the spinosaurid Baryonyx was also reported to be a dromaeosaurid, again based on a large hand claw.

Size

Megaraptor's size is debated. However, most experts have come to agree that Megaraptor is approximately 8 meters (26 feet) in length and 3 meters (10 feet) in height.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaraptor

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