Graciliraptor

slender robber (slender plunderer)

• gracili- · Latin · slender, graceful (from gracilis)
• raptor · Latin · robber, plunderer, seizer

The name combines the Latin "gracilis" (slender, graceful) with "raptor" (robber or plunderer). It refers to the animal's slender, lightly built body, and it follows the common naming of small predatory theropods as "raptors". The type species, G. lujiatunensis, is named for the Lujiatun area where it was found.

Named by

Xu and Wang

Year named

2004

Period

Early Cretaceous

Found in

Lujiatun Beds, Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China

A small feathered dromaeosaurid theropod, usually placed among the microraptorines. It is known from fragmentary material, and the type species is Graciliraptor lujiatunensis.