| Orkoraptor Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 70 Ma |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | Neovenatoridae |
| Genus: | Orkoraptor Novas, Ezcurra & Lecuona, 2008 |
| Species | |
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O. burkei Novas, Ezcurra & Lecuona, 2008 (type) |
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Orkoraptor is a genus of large theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period (early Maastrichtian age) of Argentina. It is known from incomplete fossil remains including parts of the skull, teeth, tail vertebrae, and a partial tibia. The specialized teeth resemble those of some maniraptoriform theropods, namely the deinonychosaurs and ornithomimiforms. This and other anatomical features led the authors who described it (Novas, Ezcurra, and Lecuona) to suggest that it was a coelurosaur more advanced than the tyrannosaurids. However, subsequent studies found it to be a late-surviving allosaur.[1] Found in the Pari Aike Formation of Southern Patagonia, it is one of the southernmost carnivorous dinosaurs known from South America.[2]
The name Orkoraptor means "Toothed River thief", and was derived from the Aoniken "Orr-Korr", the local name for the La Leona River, located near the original fossil site.