Dinosaurs A to Z
Caenagnathidae

Gigantoraptor

"giant thief"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Gigantoraptor 1.8 m (5.9 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Gigantoraptor
Length
1.8 m (5.9 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (95–80 Mya)
Place
Asia · Mongolia
Food
Omnivore
Clade
Caenagnathidae
Gigantoraptor reconstruction by ABelov2014
Reconstruction · ABelov2014 (CC-BY)

Gigantoraptor (“giant thief”) is a genus of large oviraptorosaurian dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous period. It is known from the Iren Dabasu Formation of Inner Mongolia, where the first remains were found in 2005.

Gigantoraptor was the largest-known oviraptorosaur, reaching 8 or in length and 1.4 – 2 MT in body mass. It had an extensively pneumatized vertebral column and elongated arms and legs. Both femur and tibia measured over 1 m in length, an unusual trait among giant theropods. The lower jaws were toothless and ended in a keratinous beak, as seen in other oviraptorosaurs. Though several oviraptorosaur species are known to have developed a full coat of feathers, Gigantoraptor, due to its size, could have lost some of this integument.

What we know

  • Named by Xu et al., 2007.
  • Body length estimated at about 1.8 m.
  • Fossils found in Asia and Mongolia.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Gigantoraptor — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.