This article's title is a nickname, based upon conjecture or similar. The correct title is unknown.

Home time period	Cretaceous
Creature type	Raptor (Dinosaur)
Deaths caused	1
Appearances	Episode 4.3 Episode 5.5

"Some sort of Arboreal raptor, tree climber, trust me, you don´t want that thing to come through!"

―Matt Anderson^[src]

An Arboreal Dinosaur (also known as a "Tree Creeper") appears in Primeval, the exact species of which is currently undiscovered. There's very little evidence and few descriptions of what arboreal dinosaurs might have looked like. However, in Primeval, they are around the size of a fully grown man, with the head of a Raptor and a long prehensile tail for grabbing. These carnivorous dinosaurs are designed to move quickly through forested areas and grab hold of victims with its flexible and strong tail. Therefore, if such a creature did exist, it would be an apex predator.

In Primeval

Episode 4.3

During their journey's through time, the Time Tribe arrived in the Cretaceous Hills, the home of the Arboreal Dinosaurs, which they called Tree Creepers. The Time Tribe were forced to kill and cook the Dinosaurs for food. Ethan Dobrowski and Emily Merchant went to a Theatre in 2011 to get medicine for their friend Charlotte Cameron, who unfortunately dies shortly after their arrival. A devastated Ethan escapes when the ARC team arrive while Emily escapes into the past where she is followed by Matt Anderson. Little do the two know they are being stalked by Arboreal Raptors from the treetops.

Emily succeeds in knocking Matt to the ground with a fallen branch. However she is too busy telling him to leave her alone to notice a long flexible tail wrapping around her waist. By the time she does, it's to late and the dinosaur drags her into a up a tree. Luckily, due to quick thinking Emily withdraws a knife from her pocket and stabs the creatures tail, making it release her. Emily falls to the ground and is knocked unconscious. The dinosaur retreats back into the Treetops. Matt manages to drag her to back to the anomaly, not noticing he is being stalked by another Tree Creeper. Unfortunately for Matt, whilst he and Emily have been on the other side, Becker ordered that the anomaly be locked. After some persuading from Connor, Becker unlocks the anomaly. Matt meanwhile is trying to shoo away a Tree Creeper with Emily's knife. Matt successfully drags Emily through the anomaly into a theatre and the safety of the ARC team. The Tree Creeper follows them but is shot back through the anomaly by Becker. It is unknown if it survived. However, unbeknownst to the group, two have already come through into the theatre.

One Tree Creeper makes its way onto the theatre's roof, while the other remains in the theatre and kills an ARC soldier. Becker finds the body and bends down to identify it, when the Raptor approaches him from behind. Abby tells Becker not to move and carefully points her EMD at it. Meanwhile, on the roof, the other Arboreal Dinosaur begins to call for backup. This distracts the dinosaur menacing Becker and it abandons him and retreats, trying to find a way to the roof. Whilst Becker tries to find where it went, Matt finds Abby and tells her he will go after the one on the roof while she and Becker go after the one in the theatre. Abby agrees and Matt leaves the theatre.

Later, Abby searches the rafters for the Dinosaur in the theatre. She's too busy searching to notice the Raptor trip Abby up with its tail. The Dinosaur then retreats further up into the rafters. Abby gets a plan and begins lowering the stage lights, with the Raptor on one of them. Thus, the Raptor is lowered down to the same level as Abby and prepares to strike. Abby then lowers another stage light just as the dinosaur leaps, and the Raptor ends up leaping right into the light, sending it falling on to the stage, where Becker is there waiting for it and shoots it. It's unknown if the Raptor was killed, or survived the EMD shot and was placed in the Menagerie.

Matt and Emily, meanwhile, find the other Dinosaur on the roof of an office block, but it's out of range of the EMD, so Matt cannot shoot it. As the Dinosaur begins to climb along the outside of the building, Matt fires at the side of the building, sending an eletronic charge up to building, up the poles and through the Dinosaur's body. The Raptor roars in pain and is fired through a window of the building and into an office.

Matt and Emily shortly after arrive in the office and find the Raptor on the other side of a glass wall. After spotting Matt and Emily, the dinosaur breaks through the glass and attacks Matt. Matt hides under a small table while the dinosaur jumps onto it, trying to break through. Emily, meanwhile, takes out a small flask and proceeds to create an acid. Emily throws the acid in the dinosaur's face, saving Matt and making the Raptor retreat back through the broken window.

Matt and Emily chase the Dinosaur onto the roof where they are faced with the small problem of what to do with it. The two retreat into a small equipment shelter where Matt finds a long sharp pole. Matt proceeds to stab at the dinosaur through the fence while Emily looks for something to 'rope it' with. After finding some metal wire Matt and Emily leave the shelter and go back onto the roof with the Raptor. While Matt distracts the dinosaur with the metal pole, Emily tires to get the wire around its neck. After managing to get two wires around the dinosaur's neck and then tying the wires to the railings of the roof, the dinosaur is secure. But while the two are busy talking, one of the wires snap. Lucky Matt notices just in time as the other wire snaps, freeing the creature. The creature leaps at Matt, who luckily jumped out of the way, sending the creature plummeting to its death off the building.

Becker and Abby arrive just in time to find the creature's dead body outside the building.

Episode 5.5

During the 2011 Convergence, an anomaly opens in the ARC car park, and an Arboreal Raptor comes through, and curiously investigates Lester's new Jaguar car nearby. Lester soon spots it through the ARC's CCTV camera. He claims 'Now it's personal' and takes the elevator down to the car park. Once there, he quickly dispatches the creature with an EMD. The fate of the creature is unknown, though it was presumably either killed by the EMD shot or placed in the menagerie.

Biology

Not much is known about the Arboreal Dinosaur's biology, as it is currently undiscovered. However from what has been seen on the show, speculation has been made.

The Aboreal Dinosaurs rely mainly on their ability to camouflage themselves in the Canopy and move quickly through forested areas when hunting prey. It appears that they would quietly jump from tree to tree stalking there prey, then when they attacked, they would lower themselves down into the low branches of the tree and wrap their long prehensile tails around the prey dragging it up into the tree. However if this fails and their prey escapes, the raptors are likely to take chase on the ground. Judging by the creatures' body structure, if something would happen and the prey escapes, chasing it on the ground would be a last resort, as the animal would run slowly and bipedally.

The Raptor's appears to range in size from 6ft to 10ft and stand's much like a ape, using its arm's to support its body weight. It's also possible that the animals have their own language and can communicate with each other, as the Raptors are constantly howling and barking into the distance. Also, in Episode 4.3, when a Raptor reaches the roof of the Theatre it barks (possibly claiming its territory or possibly calling for help). Another Raptor inside the theatre hears this and starts head towards the creature. This may be a sign the creatures can communicate. If these creatures do have the ability to talk to each other, then they will bare a close resemblance to apes, as both creatures walk on all fours and attack on there hind legs (if the Raptors on the ground).

During Episode 4.3, an Aboreal Dinosaur is seen stalking Matt from the mountains, which could be a sign that the creatures can use there hunting ability on cliffs as well as trees.

Trivia

• This is Hannah Spearritt's favorite creature in Series 4 and Series 5.
• This is the second undiscovered animal the team has encountered, after the Fog Worm.
• Like Pristichampsus, Camouflage Beasts and Dracorexes, this creature could be another example of creatures from the anomalies influencing mythology, as its bears a resemblance to the Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp.
• The Arboreal Dinosaur rampages through the same area of London as the Spinosaurus in Episode 4.1.
• The way the creature is tied in the rope by Emily and Matt might be a reference to the way cowboys tied the Allosaurus in Valley of Gwangi.
• Strangely, the Arboreal Dinosaur possesses a killing claw, much like a raptor, even though it would most likely not require such a weapon, judging by it's methods of attacking, and due to the fact that it has very short legs compared to its arms.
• This is the first fictional species of dinosaur to appear.
• The Tree Creeper in Series 5 appears to be alone despite being a social animal. It may have been separated from its pack.
• The death of the last Arboreal Raptor in Episode 4.3 after falling from a tall building is similar to King Kong's death in the 1933 film King Kong and the 2005 remake.
• This is the last dinosaur to appear in Series 5.

Errors

• It would be almost impossible for a creature of this size have that many muscles in its body to have such a flexible and strong tail.
• The Arboreal Dinosaur probably wasnt even a raptor. The only similarity between the two is the killing claw on the toe of the animal. Plus the dinosaur also had very short but strong legs which were ideal for climbing but not for running; which is a key factor for all known raptors.
• Even though it is undiscovered, because this creature may be a raptor, it would've had at least a slight coating of feathers.