Bambiraptor Temporal range: Late Cretaceous,
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Restored skeleton of the juvenile specimen | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | †Dromaeosauridae |
Clade: | †Eudromaeosauria |
Subfamily: | †Saurornitholestinae |
Genus: | †Bambiraptor Burnham et al., 2000 |
Type species | |
†Bambiraptor feinbergi Burnham et al., 2000
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Bambiraptor is a Late Cretaceous, 72-million-year-old, bird-like dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur described by scientists at the University of Kansas, Yale University, and the University of New Orleans.
The holotype fossil is less than one meter long, although this specimen appears to be a juvenile,[1] and it is possible that Bambiraptor is a juvenile Saurornitholestes.[2] It is even suspected that the type specimen is a chimera, based on the fact that "there are elements of three different similarly sized lower legs included in the holotype."[2] Because of its small size, it was named Bambiraptor feinbergi, after the popular Disney movie character (the name literally translates to "Bambi thief") and the surname of the wealthy family who bought and lent the specimen to the new Graves Museum of Natural History in Florida.