Gigantoraptor

What it was like

Gigantoraptor was a giant among the oviraptorosaurs, a group of feathered, beaked dinosaurs usually much smaller. It grew to about 8 meters (26 feet) long, walking on two long legs, with a toothless beak likely used to crop plants or seize small prey. Despite its size, it was probably covered in feathers like its smaller relatives, though scientists are unsure how much of that covering it kept as an adult.

Its arms and legs were long in proportion to its body, unusual for such a large theropod, and suggest Gigantoraptor moved efficiently on its two hind legs despite its bulk.

Its world

Gigantoraptor lived in what is now China during the Late Cretaceous, between about 84 and 72 million years ago. Its remains come from a single find in the Iren Dabasu Formation.

It shared its world with the ostrich-like Archaeornithomimus, the hadrosaurs Gilmoreosaurus and Bactrosaurus, the herbivorous Neimongosaurus and Erliansaurus, and predators such as Alectrosaurus.

How it was found

Xu and colleagues named Gigantoraptor in 2007. It belongs to Caenagnathidae, a family of oviraptorosaurs otherwise made up of much smaller animals such as Chirostenotes, Elmisaurus, and Caenagnathus, which makes its huge size unusual within the group.