page_title: Gigantoraptor
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Gigantoraptor / Description
caption_attribution_description: Gigantoraptor - 03
context_page_description: Gigantoraptor is a genus of giant oviraptorosaur theropod dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago in the later Cretaceous. It was discovered in 2005 in Inner Mongolia.
context_section_description: Gigantoraptor belonged to the Oviraptorosauria, a group named after Oviraptor. Compared to other known members, Gigantoraptor was much larger, about three times as long and 35 times more massive than the earlier discovered oviraptorosaurid Citipati. Xu et al. estimated the length at 8 metres (26 ft) and the weight at 1400 kilogrammes. In 2010 Gregory S. Paul even gave an estimate of two tonnes (2.2 tons).
  The toothless lower jaws of Gigantoraptor are fused into a broad shovel-like mandibula. The skull would have been over half a metre long and toothless, probably with a horny beak. The back tail vertebrae are lightened by spongeous bone. The front limb is rather long because of an elongated slender hand. The humerus is bowed outwards to an exceptionally large extent and has a very rounded head. The first metacarpal is very short and carries a strongly diverging thumb. The hindlimb is also long because of an elongated lower leg. The thighbone is relatively slender and short with a distinct head and neck. The foot is robust with large and strongly curved toe claws.
  No direct evidence of feathers was preserved with the skeleton. It might have been "naked" because it is three hundred times more massive than the smaller feathered species. Very large animals rely more on mass for temperature regulation, losing the insulating coverings found on their smaller relatives. Arm feathers were probably still present on Gigantoraptor, since their main functions, such as display and covering the eggs while brooding, are not related to the regulation of body heat.
caption: Claw
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