Variraptor

Taxobox
name = "Variraptor"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Dromaeosauridae
genus = "Variraptor"
genus_authority = Le Loeuff & Buffetaut, 1998
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
*"V. mechinorum" Le Loeuff & Buffetaut, 1998 (type)

"Variraptor" (pronEng|ˈværɨræptɚ VARR-i-rap-tor; (Latin) "Varus" for a name of a river + (Latin) "raptor" meaning "thief") is a genus of theropod dinosaur named after the Var River and the Var Department in the Provence region of southern France, It was a maniraptoran theropod found in the Grès à Reptiles Formation at La Bastide Neuve, near Fox-Amphoux (Var, France) and described by Le Leouff and Buffetaut in 1998. The material was previously assigned to the dubious theropod genus "Elopteryx".

Based on a posterior dorsal vertebra (MDE-D168) and a sacrum (MDE-D169) with five fused vertebrae, additional referred material includes a right humerus (MDE-D158) with a delto-pectoral crest more developed than in any other theropod known, suggesting a strong raptorial function for the forearm. Other attributed bones include a femur, and various vertebrae. The incomplete remains have dromaeosaurid features in the shape of the vertebrae and the humerus, with some resemblances to "Deinonychus". An adult animal may have been slightly smaller than "Deinonychus" at around 2 meters (6.5 ft) long.

References

* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5caa488.htm "Variraptor" in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia] , at Dino Russ's Lair