Named By: | L. E. Zanno & P. J. Makovicky in 2013 |
Time Period: | Late Cretaceous, 98.5 Ma |
Location: | USA, Utah - Cedar Mountain Formation |
Size: | Holotype individual estimated to be about 9 meters long. Fully grown adult are estimated to have approached 12 meters long |
Diet: | Carnivore |
Fossil(s): | Holotype fossil remains consist of a partial post cranial skeleton including remains of the pelvis, lower legs and vertebrae, from a juvenile/subadult |
Classification: | | Chordata | Reptilia | Dinosauria | Saurischia | Theropoda | Carcharodontosauria | Neovenatoridae | Megaraptora | |
Siats is an extinct genus of large neovenatorid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah, US. It contains a single species, Siats meekerorum. S. meekerorum could be the first neovenatorid discovered in North America and the geologically youngest allosauroid yet discovered from the continent. However, recent phylogenetic analyses find that megaraptorans are either tyrannosauroids, allosauroids, or basal coelurosaurs. More recent studies indicate that megaraptorans like Siats were indeed carnosaurs and were also part of the Neovenatoridae, albeit, ones that evolved tyrannosauroid-like features through convergent evolution.