← Rex's Notes
Deinonychus
The real raptor everyone is thinking of.
Said: die-NON-ih-kus
Era: Cretaceous · 115 to 108 million years ago
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Forested wetlands of central North America
Size: about as long as a small horse.
What it was like
Deinonychus is what the movie raptors are based on. It had a giant curved claw on each foot and was probably covered in feathers.
What we know now
John Ostrom's 1969 description of Deinonychus reset the field, providing strong support for warm-blooded, active theropods and the bird-dinosaur connection that remains the consensus today. Jurassic Park uses the name Velociraptor for animals scaled and proportioned like Deinonychus. Whether it hunted in true coordinated packs is now disputed, with stable isotope studies suggesting solitary or loose foraging instead.
Notes
- Sickle claw was held off the ground while running.
- Probably leapt onto prey and pinned it down with its weight, similar to a modern eagle.
- Tail was held stiff by interlocking bony rods.