What is Sinraptoridae?

The most inclusive clade containing Sinraptor dongi but not Allosaurus fragilis, Carcharodontosaurus saharicus, and Passer domesticus (house sparrow). After 18 relatively peaceful years as a valid family name, Sinraptoridae was trumped by Metriacanthosaurus, which was long considered a species of Megalosaurus and thus a member of Megalosauridae, and drew suspicious glances from palaeontologists, even after Grep Paul used it to anchor its own family, Metriacanthosauridae, in 1988. But when Carrano recovered Metriacanthosaurus as a member of Sinraptoridae in 2012, the laws of priority came into effect, and because Metriacanthosauridae was named before Sinraptoridae, the latter became a junior synonym of the former. That is not a bad thing, as the name Sinraptoridae (see etymology) suggests all "sinraptorids" were Chinese when, in fact, they are not.

Click here to search Dinochecker's database for Metriacanthosaurids.

Sinraptoridae is derived from the Greek "sinai" (Chinese), the Latin "raptor" (plunderer), and the Greek "idae" (family), named for group anchor, Sinraptor.