Discover

'''Sinraptor''' is the name given to a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name ''Sinraptor'' comes from the Latin prefix "Sino", meaning Chinese, and "Raptor" meaning thief. The specific name ''dongi'' honours Dong Zhiming. Despite its name, ''Sinraptor'' is not related to dromaeosaurids (often nicknamed "raptors") like ''Velociraptor''.
Uncovered by Philip J. Currie and Xian Zhao during a joint Chinese/Canadian expedition to the Northwestern Chinese desert in 1987. Standing nearly ten feet tall and measuring roughly twenty-five feet in length, two species of ''Sinraptor'' have been named--''S. dongi'', the type species, was described by Currie and Zhao in 1994. A second species, originally named ''Yangchuanosaurus hepingensis'' by Gao in 1992, may actually represent a second species of ''Sinraptor''. Whether or not this is the case, ''Sinraptor'' and ''Yangchuanosaurus'' were close relatives, and are classified together in the family Sinraptoridae.
Cladistic analysis has suggested that small, generalized carnosaurs like ''Sinraptor'' may have led to even larger animals, such as ''Giganotosaurus'' and ''Carcharodontosaurus'', and they were likely the ancestors or close to the ancestors of the allosaurids.

Contents

In popular culture

In popular culture

★ The skeleton of ''Sinraptor hepingensis'' (formerly referred to ''Yangchuanosaurus'') is on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong, China.

★ The Dinosaurs of China exhibit is on display at the Miami Museum of Science in Miami Florida. The Chinese museum has allowed the Sinraptor skeleton to visit North America in this display.
)]]