The largest of the known deinonychosauria, the dinosaurUtahraptor ostrommaysorum of the Barremian epoch in the Cretaceous period was a vicious predator in its time. It relied on its 25 cm (ten inch) claws on either foot to deliver the death blows to its victims while it held them down with its elongated arms. At anywhere between 5-7 m (16-23 ft) in length and possibly up to 2.5 m (eight feet) tall, it posed a dangerous threat, and theoretically could take down anything it chose, given that it hunted in packs. The intelligence of the creature is debated, albeit it is considered to have been very intelligent for a dinosaur, making it a successful variant among its kind. Like Troodon, Utahraptor may have been as intelligent as a modern bird of the same size.
Kirkland, Gaston, and Burge discovered this dromaeosaurid in 1993 in Grand County, Utah, within the Cedar Mountain Formation. It was during their discovery that the movieJurassic Park was being filmed, and, upon hearing of the find, the filmmakers used it as a model for their Velociraptor. This is also debated; the discrepancy being that the movie raptor was between the sizes of Deinonychus and Utahraptor.
The name Utahraptor ostrommaysorum means [Dr.] Ostrom and Mays' Utah raider.
