Open Paleo

Linheraptor

Xu et al., 2010 LIN-huh-RAP-tor

Named for Linhe, a city in Inner Mongolia near the fossil discovery site, combined with Latin 'raptor' meaning 'thief' or 'plunderer'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Linheraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur which lived in what is now China in the Late Cretaceous. It was named by Xu Xing and colleagues in 2010, and contains the species Linheraptor exquisitus. This bird-like dinosaur was less than 2 m (6.5 ft) long and was found in Inner Mongolia. It is known from a single, nearly complete skeleton.

Under dispute

Linheraptor is consistently recovered as a velociraptorine, as the sister taxon of Tsaagan (Jasinski and colleagues, 2020; Pei and colleagues, 2020). Turner and colleagues (2012) considered it a junior synonym of Tsaagan mangas, as did Senter and colleagues (2012) without discussion, but Xu and colleagues (2015) rejected the synonymy on restudy. The velociraptorine placement is not in doubt; only the genus-level distinction from Tsaagan is contested.

Diagnosis

  1. Greatly enlarged maxillary fenestra sub-equal in size to external naris
  2. Several large foramina on lateral surface of jugal
  3. Large anteriorly located maxillary fenestra extending to anterior border of antorbital fossa
  4. Contact between jugal and squamosal that excludes postorbital from infratemporal fenestra
  5. Pneumatic foramen present on axis vertebra

Species

Linheraptor exquisitus Xu et al., 2010

Type species

From Latin 'exquisitus' meaning 'exquisite' or 'excellent', referring to the exceptionally well-preserved nature of the holotype skeleton.

Holotype
IVPP V16923 , Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
Material
Articulated nearly complete skeleton.
Horizon
Bayan Mandahu Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Gate Locality, Bayan Mandahu, Inner Mongolia, China

References

  1. Xu, X.; Choiniere, J. N.; Pittman, M.; Tan, Q.; Xiao, D.; Li, Z.; Tan, L.; Clark, J. M.; Norell, M. A.; Hone, D. W. E.; Sullivan, C. (2010). A new dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Wulansuhai Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. Zootaxa 2403(1): 1-9. Magnolia Press. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.2403.1.1 xu2010b
  2. Jasinski, S. E.; Sullivan, R. M.; Dodson, P. (2020). New Dromaeosaurid Dinosaur (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae) from New Mexico and Biodiversity of Dromaeosaurids at the end of the Cretaceous. Scientific Reports 10(1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61480-7

    Recovered Linheraptor as a velociraptorine, sister to Tsaagan.

    jasinski2020a
  3. Pei, R.; Pittman, M.; Goloboff, P. A.; Dececchi, T. A.; Habib, M. B.; Kaye, T. G.; Larsson, H. C. E.; Norell, M. A.; Brusatte, S. L.; Xu, X. (2020). Potential for Powered Flight Neared by Most Close Avialan Relatives, but Few Crossed Its Thresholds. Current Biology 30(20): 4033-4046.e8. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.06.105

    Paravian phylogeny recovering Linheraptor as a velociraptorine.

    pei2020a
  4. Xu, X.; Pittman, M.; Sullivan, C.; Choiniere, J. N.; Tan, Q. W.; Clark, J. M.; Norell, M. A.; Wang, S. (2015). The taxonomic status of the Late Cretaceous dromaeosaurid Linheraptor exquisitus and its implications for dromaeosaurid systematics. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 53(1): 29-62. xu2015a
  5. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Illustrated by E. Viola.

    jones2026c
  6. Turner, A. H.; Makovicky, P. J.; Norell, M. A. (2012). A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1-206. doi:10.1206/748.1

    Considered Linheraptor a junior synonym of Tsaagan mangas.

    turner2012a
  7. Senter, P.; Kirkland, J. I.; DeBlieux, D. D.; Madsen, S.; Toth, N. (2012). New Dromaeosaurids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Utah, and the Evolution of the Dromaeosaurid Tail. PLoS ONE 7(5): e36790. Public Library of Science (PLoS). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036790

    Treats Linheraptor as Tsaagan without discussion.

    senter2012b