Dinosaurs A to Z
Dromaeosauridae

Archaeoraptor A-rchaeo-RAP-tor

Generic raptor body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Archaeoraptor 2 m (6.6 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic raptor body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Archaeoraptor
Length
2 m (6.6 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (121.4–113.2 Mya)
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dromaeosauridae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Sickle-clawed raptors: Velociraptor, Deinonychus, Utahraptor.

Archaeoraptor is a dromaeosauridae known from the Cretaceous period, of uncertain origin. Most of what’s published comes from a small number of specimens, and the fuller picture of how it lived is still being worked out.

What we know

  • Originally named by Sloan 1999.