Buitreraptor
Type species Buitreraptor gonzalezorum
- Lived
- 113 to 110 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Length
- about 1.3 m (4 ft)
- Group
- Theropods, Dromaeosauridae
- Found in
- Argentina
- Named by
- Makovicky et al. 2005
Size comparison
To scale
Scale in metersOutline: typical theropod shape
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
110 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in a region crossed by rivers, whose sand buried its skeletons. Giganotosaurus, Andesaurus and Limaysaurus are also known from the Candeleros Formation.
Field notes
About Buitreraptor
What it was like
Buitreraptor was a small feathered hunter about 1.3 meters (4 feet) long, from the southern branch of the raptor family. It had a very long, narrow snout filled with many small teeth without serrations.
Its slim jaws suggest it caught small animals, and some scientists think it may have hunted fish or lizards.
Its world
It lived about 113 to 110 million years ago, in the Cretaceous, in what is now Argentina. Its bones come from the Candeleros Formation, home also to the giant hunter Giganotosaurus and the long-necked Andesaurus and Limaysaurus.
How it was found
Makovicky and colleagues named Buitreraptor gonzalezorum in 2005. Its finds showed that raptors had spread to the southern continents and developed their own forms there.
Field gallery
More views of Buitreraptor
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Buitreraptor.
The evidence
The science behind Buitreraptor
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- Skull bones show a long, narrow head and tiny grooved teeth without serrated edges.
- Skeletons preserve much of the backbone, shoulders, hips and limbs.
- Its wishbone had openings leading into air spaces inside the bone.
Borrowed from relatives
- Much of its body shape comes from its own skeletons.
- A feather covering is inferred from feathered relatives such as Microraptor.
Still unknown
- The length and arrangement of its feathers.
- Its color.
- Exactly which small animals it hunted.
Discovery timeline
- 2003Close relativeXu et al.
- 2005Named itMakovicky, Apesteguía & Agnolín
- 2017SkullGianechini, Makovicky & Apesteguía
- 2018Full descriptionGianechini et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Buitreraptor
Close relative
Described feathered Microraptor specimens, supporting a feather covering in related small raptors such as Buitreraptor.
Four-winged dinosaurs from China. Nature 421: 335-340
Read the paper : Four-winged dinosaurs from China (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described a nearly complete small raptor and identified a distinct southern branch of the raptor family.
The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America. Nature 437: 1007-1011
Read the paper : The earliest dromaeosaurid theropod from South America (opens in a new tab)Skull
Detailed the long skull and small, grooved teeth without serrations, and compared them with Austroraptor.
The cranial osteology ofBuitreraptor gonzalezorumMakovicky, ApesteguÍa, and AgnolÍn, 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 37: e1255639
Read the paper : The cranial osteology ofBuitreraptor gonzalezorumMakovicky, ApesteguÍa, and AgnolÍn, 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina (opens in a new tab)Full description
Described the backbone and limbs, found air spaces in the wishbone, and used bone tissue to compare growth stages.
Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens ofBuitreraptor gonzalezorumMakovicky, Apesteguía and Agnolín 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. PeerJ 6: e4558
Read the paper : Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens ofBuitreraptor gonzalezorumMakovicky, Apesteguía and Agnolín 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Dromaeosauridae
Sources: Wikidata