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.)
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 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.
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