Gigantoraptorとは 意味・読み方・使い方

Gigantoraptor is a genus of giant oviraptorosaurian dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period. It was discovered in 2005 in the Iren Dabasu Formation, Erlian basin, in Inner Mongolia. Xu et al. found that it shared a common ancestor with and belonged to the same family as Oviraptor, but in comparison, Gigantoraptor was much larger, approximately 35 times larger than its likely close relative, Caudipteryx. At 8 metres (26 ft) long and weighing about 2 tonnes (2.2 tons) it is nearly 3 times as long and much heavier than the largest oviraptorosaur hitherto known, Citipati. In 2010, a second analysis of Gigantoraptor relationships found it to be a caenagnathid rather than an oviraptorid.