Fun Raptorex Facts For Kids

The clade Dinosauria is known to have first evolved during the late Triassic epoch around 243 million years ago. The clade is further classified into various clades, families, and genera comprising over 700 subspecies. The Tyrannosaurid family is one of the families under the clade Theropoda belonging to the clade Dinosauria. The Raptorex is yet another genus of Tyrannosaurids that is considered a nomen dubium as it is quite similar to the Tarbosaurus. The genus with its type species, Raptorex kriegsteini, was discovered and identified by the American paleontologist, Paul Sereno, and colleagues in 2009. Formerly, the Tyrannosaur was thought to have lived during the early Cretaceous epoch, around 125 million years ago, but then it was confirmed that the history of the animal dates back to the late Cretaceous period. While the specimen of the fossil was uncovered from the Yixian formation, fossils were also unearthed from the Iren Dabasu formation in inner Mongolia. Thus, it was known to inhabit regions of China, Mongolia, and Central Asia. The specimen of fossils is now housed and preserved as evidence of its discovery. The skeletal holotype of the Tyrannosaurus is also present in a museum in Tokyo and the Long Hao Institute of Geology and Paleontology in Inner Mongolia.

If the uniqueness of the Raptorex makes you interested in reading more about similar species, you can read about the Prosaurolophus and the Incisivosaurus.

How do you pronounce 'Raptorex'?

A Raptorex is pronounced as 'rap-toe-rex' or 'rap-tor-reks'. The generic name originated from the Latin terms 'raptor' and 'rex' meaning 'robber' and 'king', respectively. The type species is identified as Raptorex kriegsteini with the specific epithet honoring Roman Kriegstein, father of Henry Kriegstein, the private fossil collector and ophthalmologist, who gave the specimen of fossil to the University of Chicago.

What type of dinosaur was a Raptorex?

A Raptorex evolved from Tyrannosaurs. It is a dubious genus as the adult skeleton was recorded to have similarities with the juvenile specimen of the Tarbosaurus. It was a Tyrannosaurid described and discovered by the team of American paleontologists, Paul Sereno and colleagues, in 2009. Also, Peter Larson re-traced the discovery of the specimen of fossil bought by the private fossil collector, Henry Kriegstein.

In which geological period did the Raptorex roam the Earth?

Dinosaurs first evolved around the late Triassic age. The discovery of the specimen of fossil from the Yixian formation, China stated that the Raptorex lived around 125 million years ago. Later, the detailed study of the fossil specimen discovered in the Iren Dabasu formation showed that the history of the Raptorex, a prehistoric wildlife animal, dates back to the late Cretaceous epoch.

When did the Raptorex become extinct?

These primitive tyrannosaurs that lived nearly 125-70 million years ago during the late Cretaceous epoch probably became extinct animals by the end of the early Maastricht age around 70 million years ago. Although the team of paleontologists failed to confirm any threats to the Raptorex, wildlife animals from prehistoric times, natural disasters such as an asteroid collision, habitat loss, and predators are thought to be some of the factors leading to the extinction of dinosaurs.

Where did a Raptorex live?

Fossils uncovered from the Yixian formation and the Iren Dabasu formation provide evidence that the small Tyrannosaurus lived in China, Mongolia, and other Central Asian countries. Raptorex fossil remains are preserved and housed in rock slabs in a museum in Tokyo and the Long Hao Institute of Geology and Paleontology in Inner Mongolia.

What was a Raptorex's habitat?

The Raptorex hunted in woodlands but the mobile animal had a wide range of habitats including grasslands, forests, deserts, beaches, wetlands, and areas with plentiful vegetation.

Who did a Raptorex live with?

While many herbivore dinosaurs were found to live in a group, meat-eaters often led a solitary life or hunted in packs, and juvenile dinosaurs were considered social animals. The Raptorex, in particular, probably lived in a pair or a group. Whether these Tyrannosaurs lived in pairs, groups or in solitude remains a conundrum. The Tarbosaurus and several species of T-rex and Raptorex lived around the same time.

How long did a Raptorex live?

The Raptorex probably lived for a substantial time period but the life span of these small Tyrannosaurids is unknown. The dinosaur in general was considered one of the longest-living species with a life span ranging between 70-80 years.

How did they reproduce?

Dinosaurs were oviparous animals that laid amniotic eggs. Eggs hatched into individual and independent juvenile dinosaurs. Despite the discovery of skeletal specimens of this dinosaur, determining its behavior is a challenging task. Thus, there is limited information available related to the reproductive behavior of the Tyrannosaur.

What did a Raptorex look like?

Features of the skeleton of the Raptorex were found to be quite similar to features of the skeleton of the juvenile Tarbosaurus. While the Tarbosaurus was slightly smaller than a Tyrannosaurus, the Raptorex size was comparatively small. The skull was large and boxy compared to the size of the body so it had a large head, unlike the small head of a basal Tyrannosaurus, Dilong. It had long legs with lanky feet and forelimbs with two tiny fingers unlike the tiny three-fingered forelimbs of the Dilong. Like all its relatives, it had small arms. The arm size provides a piece of the evolutionary puzzle as scientists try to understand whether arms were an adaptation for some particular practice. It had stunted arms, powerful legs, and a big head.

How many bones did a Raptorex have?

Osteology and paleontology fail to compute the number of bones in the body of the Raptorex due to only partial specimens of the skeleton and skull being found. Some of the bones uncovered were arms, tiny fingers of the feet, the skull, and the jaw.

How did they communicate?

The Raptorex probably used various vocalizations and gestures to communicate with each other, but no sources confirm this.

How big was a Raptorex?

The body length of the Raptorex ranged from 8.2 ft (2.5 m), and was tallest at its hips. It was about 10 ft (3 m) tall.

Raptorex vs Tyrannosaurus: The Raptorex was known to have a body size smaller than other species of the Tyrannosaur.

How fast could a Raptorex move?

It was a bipedal animal and the speed of the dinosaur is unrecorded.

How much did a Raptorex weigh?

The Raptorex weight ranged between 90-150 lb (41-68 kg).

Ornithomimus vs Raptorex: The Ornithomimus was known to weigh two times more than the Raptorex, around 360 lb (170 kg) on average.

What were the male and female names of the species?

The male and female Raptorex did not have sex-specific names. The type species from the genus Raptorex was named the Raptorex kriegsteini by an American paleontologist Paul Sereno.

What would you call a baby Raptorex?

Although the baby Raptorex does not feature a specific binomial name, it was often called a chick, hatchling, or juvenile dinosaur.

What did they eat?

The Raptorex was a carnivorous animal preying upon a variety of creatures found during the upper Cretaceous epoch. While there is no specific diet recorded for the Raptorex, it probably primarily fed upon carrion and meat of small vertebrates, mammals, insects, and hatchlings.

How aggressive were they?

The dinosaur probably did not have an aggressive temperament, but no reports provide a detailed study about its behavior.

Did you know...

The Raptorex was a small Tyrannosaur living during the upper Cretaceous epoch. While it was formerly thought to have lived during the early Cretaceous age, contradictory shreds of evidence highlighted its temporal range to be around 70 million years ago.

What dinosaurs did the Raptorex eat?

The Raptorex was a carnivore primarily feeding upon meat and carrion, and it is unknown which dinosaurs they fed on.

Where are Raptorex fossils commonly found?

A team of American paleontologists unearthed fossils from the Yixian formation and the Iren Dabasu formation. Peter Larson initiated a detailed study of the fossil bought from the Mongolian fossil collector. However, the origin of the fossil specimen is still a mystery.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Heterodontosaurus facts and Atrociraptor facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Raptorex coloring pages.

Main/Hero image- Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com)

Second image- ★Kumiko★ from Tokyo, Japan