Utahraptor Research, Part 3: Weapons, Diet, Speed And Agility

Hey, it’s Random Scientist Inc. I have some more Utahraptor research to present.

Weapons

Utahraptor had many extremely dangerous weapons to use in combat. Its first weapon was its brain. Utahraptor was a master strategist, and had a fairly expanded brain. Its second weapon it had were the claws on its hands. It used the claws to slash and rip apart its prey, and also to get to the good stuff once the animal had died. Its third combat weapon was its second toe, which was its deadly toe claw. Utahraptor would use its toe claw to stab its prey, possibly in the jugular vein or spine, causing paralysis and/or death. Its teeth in its jaws were also a crucial weapon, used to tear apart and eat a carcass. Its next weapon may not have been a weapon at all, but it was crucial in the hunting process. Utahraptor’s tail was used for balance when it was bringing down a prey animal, and also when the animal was running. Utahraptor, and other dromaeosaurs, may have used their tails like baseball bats, hitting their prey and knocking it over. They could do this because, although most of their tail was held stiff by bony rods and joints, the base of their tail had chevron bones. Chevron bones are the bones that indicate flexibility of the tail. The farther apart the chevron bones, the more flexible the tail is. Dromaeosaurs’ chevrons in the base of their tails were relatively far apart, which indicates flexibility. Dromaeosaurs had flexible tail bases, and therefore it is possible they could’ve used their tails as a means of taking down their prey.

Diet

Utahraptor’s diet wasn’t very complicated. Obviously, it drank a lot of water, and it would eat anything that didn’t eat it first. They would hunt anything that was available to them. Utahraptor was probably a very good swimmer, and could probably swim up to 10-12 miles per hour. It is possible that Utahraptor scavenged when it couldn’t find anything else to eat. Since it was one of the largest carnivores of the early Cretaceous, it could probably scare most other predators away from a carcass that it wanted to feed on. But scavenged meat was a last resort for Utahraptor, because this large dromaeosaur was designed for speed and agility, although it was more of an ambush predator, rather than a head-on battler.

Speed and Agility

Utahraptor was agile, and could probably outrun most other dinosaurs during this time. However, it was more of a heavyweight fighter, rather than a more agile Velociraptor, which relied on ferocity and dexterity, rather than its size. Dromaeosaurs like Utahraptor are second in speed only to the ‘bird mimics’ such as Gallimimus and Ornithomimus. So Utahraptor was the fastest carnivore in the Early Cretaceous, although it could only run fast in short, quick bursts of speed. At top speed, Utahraptor could probably run up to 20 miles per hour for about 5-10 seconds. It wasn’t any faster because of its size (However, the typical dromaeosaur, at around 6 feet long, could reach speeds up to 25-30 miles per hour.) Dromaeosaurs could run so fast because a.) Their legs were very strong and b.) because of their lung design. First, the raptor would, obviously, inhale air. Then, that air would travel to various bones and vertebrae as well as the lungs. Finally, the remaining air exited the body through holes in various bones and escaped through the animal’s pores in its skin. This method conserved energy because the raptor didn’t have to let as much air out of its lungs.

I hope you enjoyed, I’ll be working on Part 4!

Random Scientist Inc.