TACHIRAPTOR
a meat-eating averostran theropod dinosaur from the Early Jurassic of Venezuela.
Pronunciation: tah-shee-rap-tuh
Meaning: Táchira plunderer
Author/s: Langer
et al. (
2014)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Táchira State, Venezuela
Discovery Chart Position: #879
Tachiraptor admirabilis
(Admirable Táchira plunderer)Etymology
Tachiraptor is derived from "Táchira" (the Venezuelan state in which it was found) and the Latin "raptor" (plunderer, robber or thief).
The
species epithet,
admirabilis, is named for Simón Bolívar's 1813 "Admirable Campaign", which freed Venezuela from Spanish control, and in which La Grita, the town close to where the bones were found, played a strategic role.
ZooBank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:65710920-94AF-4778-8412-434868D5F214.
Discovery
The remains of
Tachiraptor were discovered in the "middle interval" of the La Quinta Formation in the Mérida Mountains (the northernmost extension of the
Andes), 4km northwest of La Grita town, Jáuregui municipality, Táchira State, on the western border of Venezuela, in 2013.
The
holotype (IVIC-P-2867) is a nearly complete right shin (tibia). A partial hip bone—the left ischium—(IVIC-P-2868) was found in the same spot.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Jurassic
Stage: Hettangian
Age range: 201-196 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 2 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: 25 Kg
Diet: Carnivore
References
• Langer MC, Rincón AD, Ramezani J, Solórzano A and Rauhut OWM (2014) "
New dinosaur (Theropoda, stem-Averostra) from the earliest Jurassic of the La Quinta formation, Venezuelan Andes".
Royal Society open science,
1: 140184.
• Moody JM (1997) "Theropod teeth from the Jurassic of
Venezuela".
Boletin de la Sociedad Venezolana de Geölogos, 22: 37-42.
• Barrett PM, Butler RJ, Moore-Fay SC, Novas FE, Moody JM, Clark JM and Sänchez-Villagra MR (2008) "
Dinosaur remains from the La Quinta Formation (Lower or Middle Jurassic) of the Venezuelan Andes".
Paläontologische Zeitschrift, 82(2): 163-177.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
TACHIRAPTOR :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/TACHIRAPTOR›. Web access: 07th Mar 2026.
