Yuanmouraptor
"Yuanmou thief"
Type species Yuanmouraptor jinshajiangensis
- Lived
- 175 to 168 million years ago, Middle Jurassic
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Metriacanthosauridae
- Found in
- China
- Named by
- Zou et al. 2025
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
170 million years ago
Habitat
An inland landscape in China where sand and silt accumulated in the Zhanghe Formation. The sauropods Yuanmousaurus, Eomamenchisaurus and Nebulasaurus lived in the same region.
Field notes
About Yuanmouraptor
What it was like
Yuanmouraptor was a two-legged predator from the metriacanthosaurid family, relatives of Sinraptor and Yangchuanosaurus. It is known from part of a skull and a row of neck bones.
Its world
It lived in the Middle Jurassic in what is now southern China. Its bones come from the Zhanghe Formation, where the sauropods Yuanmousaurus and Eomamenchisaurus also lived.
How it was found
Zou and colleagues named it in 2025. The type species is Yuanmouraptor jinshajiangensis. It is one of the oldest known members of its family.
Field gallery
More views of Yuanmouraptor
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 Yuanmouraptor.
The evidence
The science behind Yuanmouraptor
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A nearly complete skull and lower jaws were found with the neck and the first back vertebra.
- The bone behind the eye has a twisting groove, and the front neck bones have long backward projections.
Borrowed from relatives
- The missing trunk, limbs and tail are restored from better-known metriacanthosaurids such as Sinraptor and Yangchuanosaurus.
Still unknown
- Its full body proportions and adult size.
- Its skin covering and color.
Discovery timeline
- 2019Family treeHendrickx et al.
- 2025Named itZou et al.
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Yuanmouraptor
Family tree
Compared theropod teeth, including the specimen later named Yuanmouraptor, to test which tooth features help identify dinosaur families.
The distribution of dental features in non-avian theropod dinosaurs: Taxonomic potential, degree of homoplasy, and major evolutionary trends. Palaeontologia Electronica
Read the paper : The distribution of dental features in non-avian theropod dinosaurs: Taxonomic potential, degree of homoplasy, and major evolutionary trends (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described the skull and neck, placing Yuanmouraptor near the base of the metriacanthosaurid family tree.
A new metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China. PeerJ 13: e19218
Read the paper : A new metriacanthosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Yunnan Province, China (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Metriacanthosauridae
Sources: Wikidata