Name:
Austroraptor (Greek for "southern thief"); pronounced AW-stroh-rap-tore
Habitat:
Woodlands of South America
Historical Period:
Late Cretaceous (70 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 16 feet long and 500 pounds
Diet:
Meat
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Large size; narrow snout; short arms
About Austroraptor:
As with all types of dinosaurs, paleontologists are unearthing new raptors all the time. One of the latest to join the flock is Austroraptor, which was "diagnosed" in 2008 based on a skeleton dug up in Argentina (hence the "austro," meaning "south," in its name). To date, Austroraptor is the largest raptor yet discovered in South America, measuring a full 16 feet from head to tail and probably weighing in the neighborhood of 500 pounds--proportions that would have given its North American cousin, Deinonychus, a run for its money, but would have made it no match for the nearly one-ton Utahraptor that lived tens of millions of years earlier.
