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Contents 1 Fix up 1.1 Dinosaur Comics 1.2 Measurements 1.3 Etymology 1.4 Feathers 1.5 Pronounciation

[edit] Fix up

this page needs fixing up bad...

Umm...can you please clarify?Cas Liber 23:03, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

== Removed uncited addition == it also need a non-fetherd pics

This was just posted, and I wouldn't doubt that it's got some basis in fact, but I don't know of any citations for it. Any ideas, dromaeosaur people?

Some recent findings might suggest an even larger size for Utahraptor, perhaps more than 10 meters long. However, it is not clear if these remains (fragmentary) belong to Utahraptor ostrommaysorum, or to a completely new species.

J. Spencer 01:49, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

It's true, but there is no citation as it's just gossip at this point, hasn't been published. Better wait for the paper. Dinoguy2 02:45, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dinosaur Comics

As I said on Talk:Dromiceiomimus, you need to look at the proportional relevence of these pop culture things. Especially in a case like Dinosaur comics. Raptor Red is *about* Utahraptor. The relevent portions of WWD are *about* the (hypothetical) behavior and environment of Utahraptor. The reader may gain more information, correct or incorrect, about this animal species by looking at these sources (can't speak to the other novel mentioned--since it's sci fi, I'd guess it's probably less notable and could be removed or reduced in emphasis). Now, Dinosaur Comics--you could replace the Utahraptor with an elephant or a talking carrot, and it would not change the comic one bit. It's a talking head (I'll reiterate I'm a fan!). The comic is not about dinosaurs (usually) in any way except that the author's points happen to be put in the mouths of dinosaur drawings. I would hesitate call anything in it but the rex "characters"! I'll leave the brief mention in here so I'm not the guy unilaterally removing DC stuff, but I'll state that I do not think DC is notable to the topic of Utahraptor at all. Dinoguy2 01:09, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Measurements

The article says Utahraptor was 'up to 2m/6ft in height'. What posture does this refer to? The Jurassic park films are hardly documentary evidence, but they clearly show a raptor style skeleton is capable of changing ultimate hight by a fair margin. With mammals we measure up to the fore-shoulder whilst standing still. Is there an equivalent standardized measurement & posture for dinosaurs?ANTIcarrot 17:31, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

The hip height is your best bet, but you'll see a lot of variability in how flexed the various parts of the leg are. J. Spencer 22:09, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't take any estimates cited here as gospel at the moment. A new paper in press is set to downsize Utahraptor a fair bit. Dinoguy2 08:04, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

Why does the picture have it as 7m long when the article says that it's 6.5m long? 122.109.250.74 (talk) 07:50, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

The tail looks longer because of the feathers. Dinoguy2 (talk) 09:22, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

It's a picky point, but I felt bad after reverting an IP's change to "plunderor" (a typo, but obvious what it is intended). So, "raptor" has been variously translated as "thief", "robber", and "plunderer". My American Heritage College Dictionary presents it as "one who seizes". The Dinosauria On-Line Omnipedia, from classicist Ben Creisler's work, uses "robber". Any thoughts? J. Spencer 19:44, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

I don't think you should feel bad about reverting an obvious spelling error. Articles decline in quality from stuff like that getting added. Since it's debatable about whether the translation is better as "thief", "robber", "plunderer", etc, I don't think it's a big deal about which one is used... but whatever is used needs to at least be spelled correctly. Firsfron of Ronchester 20:54, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, but if "plunderer" is the better choice, it could easily be fixed. I'm just wondering if there is a "best" choice, but there might not be (i.e. Thescelosaurus). I also don't want to start acting like Dinosaur Dictator or something.

Interestingly enough, given the recent increase in explicitly expostulating etymologies, there are probably cases already of different choices for the same words (maybe "Xraptor" was intended by the authors as X-thief, whereas "Yraptor" was intended as Y-robber). Is there actually a difference? Does it matter? Tune in next week, same Raptor-time, same Raptor-channel! J. Spencer 21:40, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

Anybody have the paper? Authors usually give etymology in the description. We should go with whatever translation they intended. Dinoguy2 03:49, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

I have it...its hard to get as its not online. The authors say...'Etymology. Name refers to the occurrence of this formidable predatory dinosaur in Utah, 'Utah's predator'... Steveoc 86 12:29, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Feathers

I think we should use a different picture. Although smaller Dromaeosaurids had feathers, I don't think feathers would've been practical or useful to a large dinosaur such as Utahraptor, and there is no proof for it. --JohnVMaster (talk) 05:06, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Utahraptor is the same size as moa, and smaller than giant furry tropical mammals like ground sloths. There's no reason to think they'd have lost their feathers, and the only published source I know that deals with this expressly states that it's unlikely larger forms would have lost feathers (the Velociraptor quill knob paper). Dinoguy2 (talk) 11:55, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Pronounciation

How is Utahraptor to be pronounced, since it is a mixed English-Latin word? If it was pronounced as a pure latin word (like most of scientific names), it would simply be IPA:utahraptor (a form I have actually heard used.) However, if mixed pronounciation is used, it would be something like IPA:ˈjuːtɑːraptor. On a note, I'm leaving out pure English pronounciation because I don't think it would be appropriate (even the mixed form might be problematic for speakers of other languages.) Is there any established rule concerning this? arny (talk) 03:49, 9 June 2008 (UTC)