Fun Sinraptor Facts For Kids
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Among the diverse group of reptiles is this species from the clade of Dinosauria. While the first dinosaur dates back to the Triassic period, a Sinraptor is a genus of dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period.
It belongs to the family of the Metriacanthosaurid Theropod dinosaur. While Sinraptor dongi is its type species, Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis or Sinraptor hepingensis is yet another species belonging to the genus. While it is mistakenly considered a raptor or a Dromaeosaurid, it is closely related to the Yangchuanosaurus.
Formerly the Sinraptor hepingensis was categorized under the genus Yangchuanosaurus until the discovery of the Sinraptor. The holotype specimen of Sinraptor was discovered in the Shishugou formation and was described by Philip J. Currie.
If the uniqueness of the Sinraptor makes you interested in reading more about similar species, you can read about the Europelta and the Agustinia.
Sinraptor Interesting Facts
How do you pronounce 'Sinraptor'?
Sinraptor can be pronounced as 'Sine-rap-tor'. The generic name is a Latin prefix. It is derived from the word 'Sino' and 'raptor' meaning 'Chinese' and 'robber', respectively.
What type of dinosaur was a Sinraptor?
The genus Sinraptor or Sinraptoridae is categorized under the family of Metriacanthosaurid Theropod dinosaurs. It was distantly related to the Allosaurus, a genus of large Carnosaurian theropod dinosaur. It was also a Carnosaur. The Sinraptoridae is closely related to the Yangchuanosaurus.
In which geological period did the Sinraptor roam the Earth?
The Sinraptor is from the late Jurassic period from 163-145 million years ago, while the discovery of the skeleton of Sinraptor dates back to 1992.
When did the Sinraptor become extinct?
Dinosaurs in general went extinct 66 million years ago, but it is not recorded when exactly the Sinraptor faced extinction.
Where did a Sinraptor live?
While the holotype skeleton of Sinraptor was excavated from the Shishugou formation in China, it is speculated that the species of genus Sinraptoridae originated from China.
What was a Sinraptor's habitat?
The Sinraptor was a wandering animal foraging and hunting in wide-open grasslands, deserts, or beaches, but the dinosaur stayed in nearby forests during the dark.
Who did a Sinraptor live with?
The Sinraptor was thought to lead a solitary life and often lived in pairs or trios. The species was seen in pairs primarily during its breeding season, but the dinosaur hunted upon its prey in trios and pairs.
How long did a Sinraptor live?
Dinosaurs were speculated to live for 70-80 years, but the life span of the Sinraptor is unrecorded.
How did they reproduce?
The discovery of the species was catalyzed by the specimen of Sinraptor, but determining its behavior remains a challenging task. Thus, there is limited information available related to the reproductive behavior of this dinosaur.
Dinosaurs were found in pairs during the mating season and the species was thought to have an aggressive temperament. While males were fueled by testosterone, females became protective of their young ones and ensured the protection of juveniles from attacks of any carnivorous species.
Sinraptor Fun Facts
What did a Sinraptor look like?
The Sinraptor looked similar to the Allosaurus. While there is not much known about the appearance of the species, the discovered skeleton of Sinraptor highlighted it to be one of the largest dinosaurs.
It is known to have had a scaly body. The pelage of the dinosaur ranges between violet-blue, brown, and green. The Sinraptor was quite similar to a lizard but was considerably large in size and had color variations, too.
How many bones did a Sinraptor have?
There is no estimation of the number of bones in a Sinraptor. While the dinosaur had many bones, highlighting a considerably big number, this species of dinosaur had some common bones including the neck bone, the pubis, the wrist, the arm, the pectoral girdle, the wishbone or furcula, and the breast bone.
Also, the female dinosaur had a medullary bone rich in calcium which was used to make eggshells. This bone also helps in deciphering the sex of the species.
How did they communicate?
The dinosaur communicated via vocalizations and also through non-verbal communication like vision, clapping, hissing, splashing water, or rubbing its scales together. This Theropod dinosaur is thought to have communicated through similar techniques but there is no data confirming this.
How big was a Sinraptor?
The Sinraptor dongi and the Sinraptor hepingensis or the Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis had a length ranging from 25-29 ft (7.6-8.8 m), while their height ranged up to 10 ft (3 m). They were among the largest dinosaurs from the family Metriacanthosauridae.
Yet, the Sinraptor was almost four times smaller than the Dreadnoughtus, the largest dinosaur with a length ranging up to 85 ft (26 m).
How fast could a Sinraptor move?
The Sinraptor is thought to have been one of the fastest Theropod dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period in China, but its speed is not known. While dinosaurs either walked on two or four feet, they could fly and reside in semi-aquatic habitats, too.
Specifically, the Sinraptor was a terrestrial species that walked on two feet. The exact speed of the Sinraptor is unknown.
How much did a Sinraptor weigh?
The weight of the Sinraptor ranged from about 1-1.3 ton (1,000-1,200 kg).
What were the male and female names of the species?
There are no specific names assigned to male and female Sinraptors. While the male can be referred to as saurus, the female is often called saura.
On the other hand, its type species Sinraptor dongi is named honoring the Chinese vertebrate paleontologist Dong Zhiming with the specific epithet of the binomial name dongi referring to the paleontologist. Dong Zhiming is known to have studied more than 30 species from the clade Dinosauria.
What would you call a baby Sinraptor?
The baby Sinraptor is also known as a chick or hatchling.
What did they eat?
The Sinraptor tooth had a blade-like shape, and the dinosaur was a meat eater. The species preyed upon other species by bringing them down using its claws and teeth. The dinosaur was a carnivore feeding upon a variety of species, primarily Ornithopods, mid-sized Sauropods, small Crocodylomorphs, Pterosaurs, and smaller Theropods.
How aggressive were they?
The dinosaur had an aggressive temperament, especially during the mating season and when threatened.
Did you know...
The Sinraptor skull was discovered in the Shishugou formation in China. The Sinraptor from the late Jurassic period was documented by Philip J. Currie. It has two subspecies: the Sinraptor hepingensis or the Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis and the Sinraptor dongi. The binomial name of its type species, Sinraptor dongi, honors Dong Zhiming.
Is the Sinraptor a raptor?
The Sinraptor is neither a raptor (Dromaeosaurid) nor is related to it. It is rather closely related to the Yangchuanosaurus and distantly related to the Allosaurus.
Sinraptor size comparison
While the Tyrannosaurus had a length up to 40-42 ft (12-12.8 m) and was 12 ft (3.6 m) tall, a Fukuiraptor was 13.7-16 ft (4-5 m) long. A Sinraptor was two times smaller than the Tyrannosaurus and was twice the size of a Fukuiraptor.
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 Tanius facts and Claosaurus facts for kids.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Sinraptor coloring pages.
Second image: Einar Fredriksen
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