Sinraptor

*Sinraptor dongi*

* Timothy Bradley Artwork
* Robert F Walters Artwork

**Sinraptor** is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. The name *Sinraptor* comes from the Latin suffix. "Sino", meaning "Chinese", and "Raptor" meaning "Thief". The specific name *dongi* honours Dong Zhiming. Despite its name, *Sinraptor* is not related to dromaeosaurids (often nicknamed "raptors") like Velociraptor.

## Discovery

     The holotype specimen of *Sinraptor* was uncovered from the Shishugou Formation during a joint Chinese/Canadian expedition to the northwestern Chinese desert in 1987, and described by Philip J. Currie and Xian Zhao in 1994. Standing nearly 3 meters tall (10 ft) and measuring roughly 7.6 meters (25 ft) in length, two species of *Sinraptor* have been named. *S. dongi*, the type species, was described by Currie and Zhao in 1994.

A second species, originally named Yangchuanosaurus *hepingensis* by Gao in 1992, may actually represent a second species of *Sinraptor*. Whether or not this is the case, *Sinraptor* and *Yangchuanosaurus* were certainly close relatives, and are classified together in the family Sinraptoridae. The skeleton of *Sinraptor hepingensis* (formerly referred to *Yangchuanosaurus*) is on display at the Zigong Dinosaur Museum, Zigong , China.

## Description

Sinraptor is a dinosaur which lived approximately 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic Period. It was first discovered by a joint Chinese and Canadian expedition in the Shishugou Formation of China in 1987. In 1994, it was named by Philip J. Currie and Xian Zhao, who gave it the name Sinraptor which means “Chinese raptor”.

This dinosaur was around 25 feet long, 10 feet tall and weighed approximately 2000 pounds or 1 ton. It was probably a fierce—albeit small—carnivore that probably hunted very well. Since many of the herbivores in this part of the world were giant, they probably hunted the juvenile members of them. Perhaps separating these young saurapods from their parents to hunt them. However, it probably also had to contend with other larger predators who may have given it some grief during the course of its life.

An interesting fact about Sinraptor is that it isn’t a true raptor. Sure, it was bipedal like a raptor but that is where the similarities end. It would be millions of years after the death of this dinosaur before raptors would come on the scene. Paleontologists actually think that the Sinraptor was an Allosaur.

## Pathology

*Sinraptor dongi* skull specimen IVPP 10600 exhibits "a variety of gently curving tooth drags or gouges, shallow, circular punctures and one fully penetrating lesion." One rib was broken and healed via telescoping of its capitular shaft.

## JPInstitute.com Description

This was a large, fast meat-eater from China. Sinraptor was similar in looks to Allosaurus and may have been distantly related. It was a little lighter and may have been faster than its North American cousin. Some of its teeth were found in the remains of a large sauropod, so scientists theorize that it fed upon them.

Two species have been assigned to this genus, the second being S. hepingensis, which was slightly larger than the type specimen. Some scientists consider Sinraptor to be an important basal genus as it may have given rise to the later Cretaceous predators such as Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus.

## Links

http://web.archive.org/web/20040214164247fw\_/http://www.jpinstitute.com/dinopedia/dinocards/dc\_sinra.html#