Graciliraptor

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iGraciliraptor Fossil range: Early Cretaceous
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Infraorder: Coelurosauria Family: Dromaeosauridae Subfamily: Microraptorinae Genus: Graciliraptor
Binomial name
Graciliraptor lujiatunensis Xu & Wang, 2004

Graciliraptor is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period. It was a microraptorian dromaeosaurid first described in 2004. The fossils were found in Beipiao, Liaoning Province, China. These fossils comprised part of the maxilla, nearly complete fore and hind legs, a partial vertebrae, and a few teeth.

The type species, Graciliraptor lujiatunensis, was described by Xu and Wang. It is believed to have been closely related to Microraptor, another dromaeosaurid from the Cretaceous of China.

[edit] External links

• page on Maniraptorids
• page on Graciliraptor, from Sinofossa Institute

[edit] References

Xu, Xing and Wang, Xiao-lin. 2004. A New Dromaeosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of Western Liaoning. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 42(2): 11-119.