Luanchuanraptor
"Luanchuan robber"
Type species Luanchuanraptor henanensis
- Lived
- 72 to 66 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Dromaeosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Lü and et al 2007
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
70 million years ago
Habitat
Shallow lakes and branching river deltas marked the landscape of the Qiupa Formation in China. Qiupalong, Qiupanykus and Yulong also lived in this region.
Field notes
About Luanchuanraptor
What it was like
Luanchuanraptor was a medium-sized raptor known from teeth, tail vertebrae and shoulder and upper-arm bones. Feathers and sickle claws on its feet are inferred from relatives; no foot bones are known.
Its world
It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, at the end of the Late Cretaceous, in what is now central China. Its bones come from the Qiupa Formation, where other dinosaurs include the ostrich-like Qiupalong and the small oviraptor Yulong.
How it was found
Lü and colleagues named Luanchuanraptor in 2007. It was one of the first raptors named from central China.
Field gallery
More views of Luanchuanraptor
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 Luanchuanraptor.
The evidence
The science behind Luanchuanraptor
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- The partial skeleton includes serrated teeth, tail vertebrae and shoulder and upper-arm bones.
- The upper arm bone is straight and carries a long crest.
- A later study describes the projections on its tail vertebrae as short.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing face, hands and feet are restored by comparison with Velociraptor.
- Feathers are inferred from its broader raptor relatives, including a forearm bone with feather attachment points provisionally assigned to Velociraptor.
Still unknown
- The full shape of its skull.
- Its exact place among the raptors. One study grouped it with Microraptor and its kin, and in a later analysis its position became less certain when the characters were weighted differently.
- The pattern and color of its feathers.
Discovery timeline
- 2007Named it
- 2007Close relativeTurner, Makovicky & Norell
- 2011Its worldJiang et al.
- 2018Same rocksLü et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Luanchuanraptor
Close relative
Reported feather attachment points on a forearm assigned to Velociraptor, supporting feathered reconstructions of related raptors.
Feather quill knobs in the dinosaur Velociraptor. Science 317: 1721
Read the paper : Feather quill knobs in the dinosaur Velociraptor (opens in a new tab)Its world
Studied the rock sequence containing the Qiupa Formation and traced the transition from the dinosaur age into the following period.
Dinosaur-bearing strata and K/T boundary in the Luanchuan-Tantou Basin of western Henan Province, China. Science China Earth Sciences 54: 1149-1155
Read the paper : Dinosaur-bearing strata and K/T boundary in the Luanchuan-Tantou Basin of western Henan Province, China (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Described Qiupanykus from the same formation and outlined a landscape of shallow lakes and branching river deltas.
A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province, central China. China Geology 1: 28-35
Read the paper : A new alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Qiupa Formation of Luanchuan, Henan Province, central China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Dromaeosauridae
Sources: Wikidata