Webosaurs Blog

Utahraptor - still the king of the Dromaeosaurs

Q: What was the biggest raptor? -Repticore5 (I believe it was Sinraptor – Shadowflyer)

A: Heyyy… very good call Shadowflyer. Standing nearly 10 feet tall (3 meters) and roughly 25 feet (7.6 meters) in length, it would appear that Sinraptor is actually bigger than the other raptors. After all, Utahraptor is only 23 feet (7 m) long. Could this be the new biggest raptor of them all?

Sorry Charlie

Turns out that Sinraptor isn’t actually a raptor. Sure, it’s called a raptor (which means “thief” in latin) and it kind of looks like a raptor. However, it isn’t a member of the Dromaeosaurids. If you remember, Dromaeosaurs are what we usually refer to as “raptors.” Sinraptor was just your regular ol’ theropod, but we bet he was still pretty scary to cross.

So there you go… Utahraptor with his giant claw and menacing reputation still remains the king of the raptors!

-Rex

This is what Velociraptor used to slash its prey. Scary innit?

Q: Which dinosaur had the sharpest claws? -Rexrexx

A: Well Rexrexx, that dubious honor has to go to the dromaeosaurs. You may remember from raptor week, but the dromaeosaurs were the raptor family. This includes all the little raptors like Velociraptor to the huge Utahraptor. One thing they all shared in common was a giant claw on their feet that they used to cut open their prey with a swift, slashing kick.

This is a very special kind of attack since other theropods just used their mouths to take out prey. Other theropods didn’t have to have sharp claws but the dromaeosaurs were a “cut” above the rest (hehe, I’m so funny).

As you can see in the picture, the Velociraptor claws were around 3.75 in (9.5cm) wide while a full Utahraptor claw could reach 9.4 in (24cm). They were extremely sharp and had no problem striking down prey much larger than the predator.

-Rex

Somebody needs a little meat on their bones!

Q: What was the largest raptor? -Irvine

A: This is probably the scariest dinosaur that ever walked the earth. Remember when I said T-Rex was the scariest? Well, Utahraptor would give it some pretty good competition! At 21 ft (7m) long and 6.6 ft (2m) tall, it was easily the biggest raptor of them all. The raptors you saw in Jurassic Park weren’t velociraptors, but they weren’t even as big as these guys.

Like other raptors, Utahraptor had a big ol’ claw coming out of its foot that it used to slice open its prey. The largest claws could reach up to 9.4 in (23.9 cm)! Not only was it long, it was thick too. While one Utahraptor was insanely dangerous on its own, a small group of them could take down any dinosaur that ever existed.

-Rex

Somebody needs a little meat on their bones!

Q: What was the biggest raptor? -Tyranogirl

A: This is probably the scariest dinosaur that ever walked the earth. Remember when I said T-Rex was the scariest? Well, Utahraptor would give it some pretty good competition! At 21 ft (7m) long and 6.6 ft (2m) tall, it was easily the biggest raptor of them all. The raptors you saw in Jurassic Park weren’t velociraptors, but they weren’t even as big as these guys.

Like other raptors, Utahraptor had a big ol’ claw coming out of its foot that it used to slice open its prey. The largest claws could reach up to 9.4 in (23.9 cm)! Not only was it long, it was thick too. While one Utahraptor was insanely dangerous on its own, a small group of them could take down any dinosaur that ever existed.

-Rex