Utahraptor (YOO-tah-RAP-tor) (also meaning "Utah thief") is the largest known member of the theropod dinosaur family Dromaeosauridae, and dates from the upper Barremian stage of the Lower Cretaceous period (126 million years ago).

 

Like other dromaeosaurids, Utahraptor had a huge curved claw on the second toe that could grow to 23 cm (almost 9 inches) long.

The animal may have grasped its prey with its forelimbs while kicking with its hindlimbs. Recent tests on reconstructions of the smaller species Velociraptor suggest that claws of this type were used for stabbing, not slashing. Up to 7 metres (23.3 feet) long, 2.4 metres (8 feet) tall and 700 kg (1500lbs) in weight, Utahraptor would have been a formidable predator.

Utahraptor was active during the Albian age in the USA.

Fossils of this meat-eater were found in eastern Utah, USA in 1991. The type species is U. ostrommaysi.