• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Good News Utah

Good News Utah

Positively Sharing

  • About
  • Videos
  • Magazine
    • Issues
    • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Lifestyle
    • Inspiration
    • Motivation
    • Relationships
    • Health & Wellness
  • Culture
    • Food
    • Entertainment
  • Features
    • People
    • Charities
    • Business Profiles

4 Fascinating Facts About the Utahraptor—Utah’s Official Dinosaur

August 23, 2022 by Good News Utah Staff

Utahraptor
Illustration by Fred Wierum (no changes made)

Did you know that Utah has an official dinosaur? It’s called the Utahraptor. Check out these facts about this fascinating creature.

1. The Utahraptor was discovered in 1991.

Paleontologist Jim Kirkland and his crew unearthed remains of an unknown dinosaur near Moab—a dinosaur that would come to be known as the Utahraptor.

2. The Utahraptor is the largest raptor ever discovered.

Experts estimate that adult Utahraptors measured between 20 and 25 feet long and weighed anywhere from 600 pounds to 2,000 pounds. It is twice the size of the famous Velociraptor.

Utahraptor
Source: The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs

3. The Utahraptor lived about 125 million years ago.

Utahraptors lived during the early Cretaceous period. They are believed to have been feather-covered carnivores that had 9.5-inch sickle-shaped claws on their hind feet that were used to attack its prey. They are also thought to have traveled in packs, allowing them to hunt dinosaurs much larger than themselves. 

Utahraptor
Source: Wikimedia, photo by Ghedoghedo (no changes made)
Source: Wikimedia, photo by Jaren Wilkey (no changes made)

4. A new state park bears the creature’s name.

On March 11, 2021, Utah lawmakers passed a bill to create Utahraptor State Park about 15 miles north of Moab, where several 100-million-year-old skeletons of the creature have been discovered. Folks interested in seeing the Utahraptor can visit exhibits at the Natural History Museum of Utah, the BYU Museum of Paleontology, and the Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum.

► You’ll also like: Preserving Petroglyphs with Drone Photography

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dinosaurs, Fun Facts, Good News Utah, Moab, Positively Utah, Trivia, Utah Trivia, Utahraptor, Utahraptor State Park

Primary Sidebar

Good News Straight to Your Inbox


Subscribe to our free email newsletter and every month we’ll send you stories that make you smile—from hometown heroes to inspiring charities to local businesses that are giving back. Sign up today!

Recent Articles

  • 3 Habits to Make This Year Your Best Year Ever

  • 10 Quotes to Inspire You to Achieve Your Goals

  • Live Like Sam: Honoring One Teen’s Legacy by Helping Youth to Become Their Best

  • 7 Gifts That Give Back: Worthwhile Causes to Support This Season

  • Fab 5: Utah Food Products

Have a Good News Tip?

Send us your good news so we can share it with others! Let's change the conversation one positive story at a time.

Share

Footer

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Write for Us

Have a Good News Tip?

Send us your good news so we can share it with others! Let's change the conversation one positive story at a time.

Share

61 South 1300 West, Suite A

Pleasant Grove, UT 84062

Copyright © 2023 · Good News Utah