Deinonychus

Deinonychus antirrhopus · Deinonychus was a clawed, predatory dinosaur that lived about 115–98 million years ago, with fossils found in Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Oklahoma in the U.S.

It lived about 115 to 98 million years ago.

Deinonychus
Photo: Emily Willoughby, (e.deinonychus@gmail.com, emilywilloughby.com), CC BY-SA 4.0
Deinonychus
Photo: TotalDino, CC0
Deinonychus
Photo: Durbed, CC BY-SA 3.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassReptilia
OrderSaurischia
FamilyDromaeosauridae
GenusDeinonychus
SpeciesDeinonychus antirrhopus

Where its fossils were found

Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Oklahoma, USA; possible teeth from Maryland.

Fun facts

  • Its name means "terrible claw", after a large sickle-shaped talon on the second toe of each hind foot.
  • Scientists think Deinonychus walked on its third and fourth toes, holding the big sickle claw up off the ground.
  • A fossil of a Deinonychus was found with eggshell fragments under its body, hinting that it may have sat on its eggs to keep them warm, like a bird.
  • A 2018 study indicates that Deinonychus laid blue eggs, probably to help camouflage them in open nests.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).