Open Paleo

Buitreraptor

Makovicky et al., 2005 bwee-tree-rap-tor

From La Buitrera (the locality in Patagonia, Argentina, where fossils were found; Spanish buitrera meaning 'vulture ground') + Latin raptor meaning 'seizer, plunderer'; overall meaning 'La Buitrera seizer'.

100.5–93.9 million years ago Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Buitreraptor is a genus of unenlagiine theropod dinosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Argentina at the Candeleros Formation. Buitreraptor was described in 2005 and the type species is Buitreraptor gonzalezorum. It was rooster-sized and had a very elongated head with many small teeth.

Diagnosis

  1. Skull long, exceeding femoral length by 25%
  2. Teeth small, unserrated, without root-crown constriction
  3. Quadrate with large lateral flange and pneumatic foramen
  4. Posterior cervical centra with ventrolateral ridge terminating caudally as small tubers
  5. Furcula pneumatic (hollow with internal trabeculae)
  6. Brevis shelf expanded and lobate, projects laterally from caudal end of ilium

Species

Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky et al., 2005

Type species

Named for the González brothers, Fábián and Jorge, who carried out much of the actual excavation and preparation of the fossils.

Holotype
MPCA-PV 245 , Museo provincial de Cipolletti "Carlos Ameghino"
Material
Near-complete, articulated, adult skeleton.
Horizon
Candeleros Formation, Cenomanian, Late Cretaceous , 100.5–93.9 million years ago
Locality
La Buitrera, Río Negro, Argentina

References

  1. Makovicky, P. J.; Apesteguía, S.; Agnolín, F. L. (2005). The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America. Nature 437(7061): 1007-1011. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/nature03996 makovicky2005a
  2. Paul, G. S. (2024). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (3rd ed.). Princeton University Press.

    Source of the appearance features.

    paul2024a