- Hagryphus
Taxobox|
name = "Hagryphus"
image_width = 260px
image_caption = "Hagryphu"s by Michael W. Skrepnick.
status = fossil
fossil_range = LateCretaceous
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Sauropsida
superordo =Dinosaur ia
ordo =Saurischia
infraordo =Oviraptorosauria
genus = "Hagryphus"
binomial = "Hagryphus giganteus"
binomial_authority = Zanno & Sampson, 2005"Hagryphus" ("Ha's
griffin ", from Egyptian "Ha", name of a god of the western desert and Greek "gryphus" meaning 'griffin' (a mythological bird-like creature); Zanno and Sampson, 2005) is anoviraptorosauria ntheropod dinosaur from the UpperCretaceous Period of what is nowUtah . To date, only a single species is known, "H. giganteus". Theholotype was discovered in theKaiparowits Formation (LateCampanian ) in theGrand Staircase-Escalante National Monument of southern Utah.Radiometric dating indicates that the beds where the specimen was found date to between 76 and 75million years ago . Designated UMNH VP 12765, the type specimen resides in the collections of theUtah Museum of Natural History inSalt Lake City . It consists of an incomplete but articulated left manus and thedistal portion of the left radius. Both the semilunate and radiale are preserved.Other known
species ofNorth America n oviraptorosaurs include "Elmisaurus rarus", "Microvenator celer", and "Chirostenotes pergracilis". This group of dinosaurs is better known from the Cretaceous ofAsia , where forms such as "Khaan mckennai", "Conchoraptor gracilis" and "Oviraptor philoceratops" have been discovered.Oviraptorosaur s are characterized by a shortened snout, massive endentulous jaws and extensively pneumatized skulls, often sporting elaborate crests, the function of which remains unknown. The toothless jaws may indicate a diet of eggs but these theropods likely fed on smallvertebrate s as well. Evidence suggests that they were feathered and some paleontologists consider them to be truebird s (see the main articleOviraptorosauria for further information).Size
As the species name indicates, "Hagryphus giganteus" was a particularly large oviraptorosaur, estimated to have been approximately 3 meters (10 ft) long, which makes it one of the largest members of the
clade Oviraptorosauria (Barsbold, 1976). "H. giganteus" is estimated to be 30-40% larger than the next largest known North American oviraptorosaur, "Chirostenotes".References
*Barsbold, R. 1976. [On a new Late Cretaceous family of small theropods (Oviraptoridae fam. n.) of Mongolia] . Doklady Akademii Nauk S.S.S.R. 226:685-688.
*Zanno, L. E. and Sampson, S. D. 2005. A new oviraptorosaur (Theropoda; Maniraptora) from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25 (4):897-904, December 2005.External links
* [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/04/05/feathered.dinosaur.ap/index.html Article about "Hagryphus giganteus"] —
CNN .
* [http://www.unews.utah.edu/p/?r=040306-2 University of Utah press release, "Giant Raptor Dinosaur Discovered in Utah Monument"]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.