An article published Wednesday detailed the discovery of a seriously terrible lizard (dinosaur) that may be one of the largest to ever walk the Earth.
The “megaraptor” — technically part of the dinosaur taxon Fujianipus yingliangi — lived some 96-million years ago and grew up to five meters in length (that’s about 16 feet for those of you who measure in American), according to New Scientist. The beast attacked its prey using it’s “killing claws,” of which it had one on each of it’s massive feet. The new analysis comes from five huge dinosaur footprints found in southeast China and is more in line with “Jurassic Park’s” version of a velociraptor than other members of the species.
Most raptors, like the velociraptor, though having a scary-sounding name, were literally the size of a turkey and covered in feathers. But two subspecies, including Utahraptor and Dakotaraptor, grew a lot bigger.
A series of #dinosaur footprints found in southeast China’s Fujian Province points to the discovery of Fujianipus yingliangi —— one of the largest raptors ever. The predator that lived 96 million years ago measured 5 meters in body length and had an estimated hip height of over… pic.twitter.com/r9FmXHjQ69
— China Science (@ChinaScience) April 26, 2024
The latest addition to this list is the Fujianipus … and all we really know is that it was absolutely massive and probably really, really scary. (RELATED: Drought Reveals 113-Million-Year-Old Discovery)
No parts of a Fujianipus skeleton have been found at this point, just it’s footprints. “Preservation conditions were right for footprints but not so great for bones,” researcher Scott Persons told the outlet of his work. “They were fast.”
So, if you’re scared of anything out there in the big bad world tonight, just be grateful that you’re not living in constant fear of being eaten by a giant monster that is probably bigger and faster than your silly little car.