| Fukuiraptor Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 128 Ma |
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| Artist's impression | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Superfamily: | Allosauroidea |
| Family: | Neovenatoridae |
| Genus: | Fukuiraptor Azuma & Currie, 2000 |
| Species | |
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Fukuiraptor ("thief of Fukui") was a medium-sized carnivore of the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) that lived in what is now Japan. Scientists first thought it was a member of the Dromaeosauridae, but after studying the fossils they now believe it was related to Allosaurus in the family Neovenatoridae.[1] The type specimen is the skeleton of an individual about 4.2 metres long. It is thought that this specimen was not mature and an adult may have been larger. However, the other individuals recovered from the same locality are all juveniles that were smaller than the holotype (Currie & Azuma, 2006), in the smallest case less than a quarter of the holotype's size.
This specimen caused some confusion upon its initial discovery because its hand claw was mistaken for the killer claw on the foot of a dromaeosaur. It is now considered to be a basal member of the clade Allosauroidea, and possibly similar or identical to the Australian "Allosaurus" species.