Tachiraptor is a small, meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the early Jurassic period, about 201 million years ago. It was found in a region called La Quinta in Venezuela and is known from one species named Tachiraptor admirabilis.
This dinosaur was bipedal, which means it walked on two legs, and it was likely around 1.5 meters long, about the height of a small person. Tachiraptor probably hunted smaller animals like lizards or other young dinosaurs.
The discovery of Tachiraptor began in the late 1980s when dinosaur bones were found in Táchira, Venezuela. While many of the bones belonged to a small plant-eating dinosaur called Laquintasaura, some teeth were also discovered, showing that predators like Tachiraptor were present in the area.
In 2014, scientists officially named and described Tachiraptor admirabilis based on two fossil bones: a tibia (shinbone) and an ischium (part of the hip). These fossils were dated to the early Jurassic and provided important information about the animal’s size and features.
The name Tachiraptor comes from the state of Táchira, where it was found, combined with the Latin word “raptor,” which means thief. The species name “admirabilis” refers to an important historical campaign by Simón Bolívar.
Tachiraptor had unique characteristics in its shinbone that helped scientists and researchers identify it. One feature included a distinct shape on the upper surface of the shinbone, which sticks out more than typical theropod dinosaurs.
Tachiraptor is important for understanding the evolution of dinosaurs. It was found to be part of a larger group called Neotheropoda, which eventually includes all modern birds. Finding Tachiraptor helped scientists learn more about how dinosaurs evolved in the tropical regions of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.
In the La Quinta Formation, where Tachiraptor lived, the environment was likely a tropical forest. Other dinosaurs found in this area include a long-necked dinosaur called Perijasaurus and Laquintasaura. This information helps scientists understand what life was like millions of years ago.