Thought Velociraptor was scary? Just wait until you meet Dakotaraptor…

Dakotaraptor: Giant winged raptor unearthed by Robert A. DePalma and scientists in North America

A huge new dinosaur has been unearthed in South Dakota, USA.

And scientists say the 5-m-long creature, which lived 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, is one of the largest raptors ever found!

Palaeontologists (dinosaur experts) couldn’t believe their eyes when they unearthed the bones of this giant in the famous Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, an area that’s famous for its dinosaur discoveries such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops.

They named their discovery Dakotaraptor, after where it was unearthed.

Don’t forget to check out these roar-some dinosaur facts!

 

A team of experts at Kansas University studied the dino’s bones and found that the Dakotaraptor would have had wings! They noticed a series of small bumps along its forearms called “quill knobs” (points where feathers attach to bone), similar to what you’d find on a modern bird today – only on a giant scale!

Dakotaraptor: Giant winged raptor unearthed by Robert A. DePalma and scientists in North America
A huge, prehistoric killing machine? Sounds pretty scary to us! (Artwork by Emily Willoughby)

The scientists believe that the enormous raptor may have been a match for the infamous T. rex. Although Dakotaraptor wasn’t as large as the the 12-m-long Tyrannosaurus, palaeontologist Robert DePalma and his team believe it was an awesome predator.

Although Dakotaraptor wasn’t as large as the the 12m long Tyrannosaurus, palaeontologist Robert DePalma and his team believe that the Dakotaraptor fills the rather large size gap between smaller raptors and T. rex.

“Dakotaraptor could run very fast, it could jump incredibly well, it was agile and it had grappling hooks on the front and rear limbs,” Robert says. “These claws could grab on to anything and just slice them to bits – it was utterly lethal!”

What do you make of Dakotaraptor? Let us know your favourite dinosaur by leaving us a comment below!

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COMMENTS

  • winston

    My favorite dino is a megaldon.

  • my favorite animal is the otter

  • WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Dragonheart

    That is a living definition of a dragon so cool (but very interesting...)

  • Dragonheart

    That is a living definiton of a dragon so stop saying they are not real!!!

  • Faye

    If you need to know about the Dakotaraptor or any other type of dinosaur, Look on National Geographic Kids!

  • sam.morgan

    awesome,I want a pet Dakotaraptor[DEADLY].

  • Billie

    Coooooooooool!!!! (But creepy)

  • Abhi

    Raptors are so cool

  • Ce

    Raptors are so cool and deadly but I want one now

  • archie

    cool!

  • Dinohunter

    cool! guess that the raptors are not one of the best attraction in Jurassic park now!

  • Tron

    My favorite is the raptor for land and for water is mosasaraus

  • Dinomaster saviour

    Cool, wierd, deadly and EPIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A top predator.

  • Combertuna

    Amazing discovery! My new favourite dinosaur!

  • meatriper

    my favorite dino is the tyranosarus -rex. it weighs 7 tonnes \7000 kilograms' wow! thats a fact

  • Horcrux-destroyer

    That must have been scary if the Dakotaraptor was chasing you!

  • Lionessf

    Awesome! It could of been as lethal as a t.rex!

  • Dinoslasher

    My fave under water dino is mosasaraus and land dino is dilophosaurus

  • Panda123

    Wow!

  • Dinokewl

    Kewl :3

  • Triangle

    it the illuminati pet

  • Kelu

    Super...Deadly...And Dead

  • Bingo

    Thats epic

  • pokemaster

    awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • jackomonster

    cool discovery now I want to know more

  • ava ava ava

    soooooooooooooo cool

  • kiddietigerbare111

    scientists are discovering new things every day! This dinosaur is so cool!

  • Lilly123

    Wow!

  • Dinoslasher

    I want one as a pet!!!

  • Dinoslasher

    I want one as a pet!!! My favourite dino is giganotasaurus.

  • Dinoslasher

    I want one as a pet!!! My favourite dino is giganotasaurus.

  • Nature3

    Wow thats an amazing report

  • Nature3

    Wow that is a brilliant and amazing report a bout nature and life from the time of the dinosaurs

  • Nature3

    Wow that is a very amazing and brilliant fact about findings of prehistoric life!

  • Nature3

    Wow thats amazing !

  • rabbitbooboo

    AWESOME AND FREAKY!

  • GBTBYN6YTGRTH

    WORST SITE EVER IJIJU 9NHUIHBONJ

  • Supersaurus

    my favourite dinosaur is the Ankilosaurus

  • Supersaurus

    never heard of it

  • KAI BRUCE

    :o

  • Gracetiger8

    This must have been a pretty dangerous dinosaur!!!!!!!

  • 10lw18

    very awesome and I love dinosaur so this is very interesting

  • f3uidfsrru5

    feathers!

  • EpicNature

    Awesome facts!

  • patrik

    this must be a lethal predator my favourite dinosaur is Therizinosaurus

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