| Linheraptor Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 75 Ma |
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| Artist's reconstruction | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Infraorder: | Deinonychosauria |
| Family: | Dromaeosauridae |
| Subfamily: | Velociraptorinae |
| Genus: | Linheraptor Xu et al., 2010 |
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Linheraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur which lived in what is now China in the Late Cretaceous. It was named by Xu Xing and colleagues in 2010, and contains the species Linheraptor exquisitus.[1] This bird-like dinosaur was less than 2 m (6.5 ft) long and was found in Inner Mongolia. It is known from a single, mostly complete skeleton.
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Linheraptor was a bird-like theropod dinosaur. It was a dromaeosaurid which measured approximately 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) in length,[1] and weighed up to approximately 25 kilograms (55 lb).[2] At that size, Linheraptor would have been a fast and agile predator, perhaps preying on small ceratopsians.[3] Like all dromaeosaurids, it had an elongated skull, a curved neck, an enlarged toe claw on each foot, and a long tail; Linheraptor was bipedal and carnivorous. The large toe claws may have been used for capturing prey.[3]
Researchers announced the discovery of the genus after a nearly complete fossilised skeleton was found in 2008 by Jonah Choiniere and Michael D. Pittman[1] in Inner Mongolia; a more detailed publication is forthcoming.[1] The specimen was recovered from rocks at Bayan Mandahu. The rock formation is the Wulansuhai Formation, equivalent to the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia dating from the Campanian; the Djadokhta Formation has yielded the related genera Tsaagan and Velociraptor.[1] The holotype specimen of Linheraptor, articulated and uncompressed, is one of few nearly complete skeletons of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs worldwide.[1] The name of the genus refers to the district Linhe, the district of Inner Mongolia where the specimen was discovered, while the specific name, exquisitus, refers to the well-preserved holotype (IVPP V 16923).[4]
Among its sister taxa, Linheraptor is believed to be most closely related to Tsaagan mangas. Linheraptor and Tsaagan were intermediate between basal and derived dromaeosaurids. The two share several skull details, among which a large maxillary fenestra — an opening in the maxilla, an upper jaw bone — and lack various features of more derived dromaeosaurids such as Velociraptor.[1]
