Utahraptor Family

At the Museum of Ancient Life in Lehi, Utah, USA, they have a block (large rock) with several dinosaurs inside.  They are working on removing the bones.  So far they have found a Utahraptor family, and an Iguanodon.  It appears that what was happening is an Iguanodon got caught in a quicksand area.  He or she could not escape and was either dead or dying when a Utahraptor family came along.  The raptors thought, "Free food!"  And they jumped into the meal area...only to be trapped themselves.  So far the paleontologists have found one adult (more are expected to be found),  and a set of 3 chicks, (and there may also be more of them).

The Utahraptor chicks are all the same size, indicating that they are from the same hatch.  The adults are either the parents or other members of the Utahraptor pack.

This find indicates that these raptors lived and hunted in packs AND that the adults cared for the young.  It also implies that they were opportunistic hunters, like most or all modern predators.

Utahraptors were large raptor dinosaurus with the killing toe claw that they kept off the ground when they walked or ran.  This kept the claw razor sharp for killing prey.  An adult Utahraptor could be between 15-23  or about 5-7 meters in length.  They could weigh up to 2,200 lbs or about 1,000 kilos in mass.

Utahraptor Family

(This is a new drawing.)

In the above drawing I drew an adolescent Iguanodon, but the one in the matrix of rock is probably larger, and the young Utahraptors that were found may have been a bit smaller than I portrayed them.  I imagined that one of the female chicks ran ahead and jumped from the ground to on top of the dead Iguanodon.  Then the rest of the family arrived at what they THOUGHT was going to be free food.   Of course they may have eaten some, but once they got into the quicksand they were also trapped.  This is often called  a predator trap. It often leads to some great fossil finds millions of years later...for us!  I included a Pteranodon looking longingly at the carrion, but realizing it was too dangerous for him to land and feed...with the raptors around.   Of course possibly the Pteranodon COULD have landed and fed on the carcass while standing on it.  Then he would not of become trapped in the quicksand.  The males are drawn with more of a feathery crest...because birds evolved from dinosaurs, it is reasonable to hypothesize that male raptor dinosaurs would have been more showy than the females.  Modern birds often have a more showy male of the species.


We were able to see these fossilized bones up close.  It was amazing.  We also saw the bones of a Barosaurus.  They were huge.  I will draw and post the drawing and info on Barosaurus for my next post.

Utahraptor

(This is an older drawing.  I drew it with protofeathers.  

It may be that the newer drawing is more accurate)

Rick Hunter, Palentologist

Rick Hunter was the source for most of the information in today's post.  He is the head paleontologist at Thanksgiving Points Museum of Ancient Life.  He is pictured standing between blocks of rock that contain the Borasaurus you see drawn on the wall behind him.  

Volunteer Fossil Preparer

Much of museum fossil preparations all over the world is done by skilled volunteers.  

Robin Lyman by Borasaurus bones

Here I am standing by the Borasurus fossilized bones.  If you look past me you will see the huge 9 ton block that has the Utahraptor fossils inside it.