The impact of the blockbuster film Jurassic Park in 1993, which introduced dinosaurs to the public, made the velociraptor a symbol of fear. However, in real life, velociraptors are actually only the size of turkeys. In southeastern China, paleontologists have discovered dinosaurs that are larger than velociraptors. Here is an explanation of the discovery of the world's largest raptor, as quoted from smithsonianmag.com on (8/5).

In a study published in the journal iScience, a team of scientists announced the discovery of fossil traces from the largest known predatory bird to have left footprints. The footprints were found in the Longxiang trackway, China, during the winter of 2020, indicating the presence of Fujianipus, a dinosaur whose scientific name means "Fujian foot". This dinosaur is believed to have left its footprints approximately 96 million years ago, possibly while walking along the muddy riverbanks during prehistoric times.

The team of paleontologists has discovered more than 240 identifiable dinosaur footprints in an area of approximately 17,000 square feet. According to Lida Xing, a Chinese paleontologist leading this research, raptor footprints have distinctive characteristics that are easily recognizable, but Fujianipus footprints have unique characteristics compared to previously discovered footprints. This track chain consists of five molds, each approximately 14 inches long, indicating that this raptor had a length of about 16 feet and a hip height of six feet.

Although larger in size, its footprint still retains the characteristic feature of a raptor's footprint: a pair of toe prints. Scott Persons, an instructor at the College of Charleston and a member of the research team that made the discovery, explained that "The unique footprint of this carnivorous dinosaur has three forward-facing toe prints." He added, "Their footprints resemble those made by animals like giant turkeys, emus, or other ground-dwelling birds. Meanwhile, footprints with two toes are a distinctive feature of deinonychosaurus, better known as a raptor."

Raptors have three toes on their feet, but they will lift their middle toe higher, which is equipped with a larger and curved claw compared to the other two claws, as explained by Riley Black from Smithsonian magazine in 2012. Lifting the middle toe high prevents it from becoming blunt due to friction with the ground surface. This behavior causes the footprints to appear to have only two toes.

Based on the comparison of the length of the toe, paleontologists concluded that the newly discovered raptor is likely to belong to the troodontidae family. Troodontidae, which is closely related to modern birds, is a type of small, intelligent, and feathered theropod dinosaur that lived in Asia and North America during the Late Cretaceous period. Currently, there is only one known large troodontidae that lived in Alaska, making this new species very special.

The large dimensions of Fujianipus indicate "an increase in hunting ability and a shift towards larger prey," as described in the paper. Fujianipus is not an uncommon phenomenon. Utahraptor was named as such due to its discovery in Utah in 1991, as a large predatory bird from the Early Cretaceous period about 125 million years ago. Its mature size reached approximately 20 feet in length with a hip height of about five feet.