Graciliraptor
"graceful thief"
- Lived
- 126 to 120 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Dromaeosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Xu and Wang 2004
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
125 million years ago
Habitat
It lived in the forest-and-lake landscapes recorded by the Yixian Formation. Psittacosaurus, Sinornithosaurus and Sinosauropteryx lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Graciliraptor
What it was like
Graciliraptor was a small feathered hunter, a relative of Microraptor. It is known from parts of the arms, legs and tail.
Its world
It lived about 126 to 120 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous, in what is now China. Its bones come from the Yixian Formation, a land of forests and lakes shared with the feathered Sinornithosaurus and Sinosauropteryx and the horned Psittacosaurus.
How it was found
Xu and Wang named Graciliraptor in 2004 from one find.
Field gallery
More views of Graciliraptor
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
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 Graciliraptor.
The evidence
The science behind Graciliraptor
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton includes a piece of the upper jaw with teeth, arm bones, leg bones and tail vertebrae.
- Its middle tail vertebrae are especially long and slender.
- The thumb claw is small compared with those of many other raptors.
Borrowed from relatives
- Its feather covering is inferred from relatives such as Microraptor and Sinornithosaurus.
- The missing parts of its head and body are restored by comparison with other small raptors.
Still unknown
- Its feather colors and the length of its leg feathers.
- Whether it could glide.
- How its body changed as it grew.
Discovery timeline
- 2003Close relativeXu et al.
- 2004Named itXu & Wang
- 2012Family treeTurner, Makovicky & Norell
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Graciliraptor
Close relative
Described long feathers on the arms and legs of Microraptor, a feathered relative useful for restoring Graciliraptor.
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 small raptor with slender tail vertebrae and features shared with early birds and troodontids.
A new dromaeosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of western Liaoning. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 42: 111-119
No link available
Family tree
Reviewed raptor anatomy and relationships using a broad comparison of dinosaurs and early birds, including Graciliraptor.
A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1-206
Read the paper : A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Dromaeosauridae
Sources: Wikidata