Dakotaraptor

Dakotaraptor is a genus of large carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod from the Late Cretaceous of North America.

The first fossils of Dakotaraptor were found in South Dakota, United States, in 2005. In 2015, the genus Dakotaraptorreceived its name, meaning "plunderer of Dakota", when the type species Dakotaraptor steini was described. The fossils contain an incomplete skeleton without a skull and some individual bones. They have been found in the Maastrichtian-age Hell Creek Formation, dated to the very end of the Cretaceous period, making Dakotaraptor one of the last surviving dromaeosaurids.

Dakotaraptor was about 5.5 metres (18 ft) long, which makes it one of the largest dromaeosaurids known. It had long arms with one of the lower arm bones showing quill knobs, demonstrating that it was most likely feathered. It also had long rear legs with a very large sickle claw on the second toe; this claw could be used to kill relatively large plant-eating dinosaurs. It lived in the same time and area as many iconic late Cretaceous dinosaurs such as Ankylosaurus, Triceratops, and Tyrannosaurus.