Austroraptor (/ˌɔːstroʊˈræptər/ AW-stroh-RAP-tər) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Campanian and Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period in what is now Argentina.

The type specimen of Austroraptor cabazai, holotype MML-195, was recovered in the Bajo de Santa Rosa locality of the Allen Formation, in Río Negro, Argentina.

It consists of a fragmentary skeleton including parts of the skull, lower jaw, a few neck and torso vertebrae, some ribs, a humerus, and assorted bones from both legs.

The specific name cabazai was chosen in honor of Héctor "Tito" Cabaza, who founded the Museo Municipal de Lamarque where the specimen was partially studied.

This specimen, a partial skeleton with the skull of an adult individual slightly smaller than the holotype, is also housed in the collection of the Museo Municipal de Lamarque in Argentina.

[2] It is the largest dromaeosaur to be discovered in the Southern Hemisphere; Novas et al. estimated that Austroraptor measured 5 m (16 ft) in length from head to tail and weighed 368 kg (811 lb).

[1][5] The relative length of its arms has caused Austroraptor to be compared to another, more famous short-armed dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus, though there is no close relationship between the two taxa.

While Laurasian dromaeosaurids (Eudromaeosauria) were more stocky and had shorter legs and had an active predatory lifestyle, unenlagiines could likely maintain high speeds for extended amounts of time because they were more gracile.

[10] Models for Buitreraptor propose that it hunted by traveling large distances in pursuit of prey, which may explain the long-legged trait shared by various genera of Unenlagiidae.

Buitreraptor is characterized by its long forelimbs and hands; it likely relied on them to restrain prey and the curved claw of the second pedal digit would have injured or killed the victim.

[10] In 2021, Brum and colleagues suggested that unenlagiines such as Austroraptor and its sister taxon Ypupiara likely consumed fish for a considerable part of their diet, possibly even as a main food source, based on their non-serrated conical teeth that are similar to those of piscivorous tetrapods including gavialoids, spinosaurids, anhanguerids, etc.