Deinonychus (name meaning "Terrible Claw") is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur that originated during the Early Cretaceous period in what is now North America. Around the size of an average human, Deinonychus was one of the largest and best-known dromaeosaur dinosaurs that ever existed.
Thought to have been extinct for 108 million years, there are still large packs that remain alive on Primeval Island.
Facts[]
Era & Region[]
Deinonychus lived in North America during the Early to Middle Cretaceous period, around 125 – 100 million years ago. Perhaps one of the top predators of its time, it shared its environment with dinosaurs and other creatures like Iguanodon and Utahraptor.
Discovery & Range[]
The very first remains of Deinonychus were discovered in 1931 in southern Montana near the town of Billings. Since then, fossils have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, in rocks of the Cloverly Formation and Antlers Formation, though teeth that may belong to Deinonychus have been found much farther east in Maryland. Deinonychus has also become one of the best-known dinosaurs.
Physical Attributes[]
Though not much larger than a human and while not as large compared to other dromeosaurs, such as Utahraptor and Dakotaraptor, Deinonychus was nevertheless relatively large for a dromeosaur, standing approximately 5 – 6 feet (1.6 – 2 m) tall, measuring 8 – 13 feet (2.5 – 4 m) long, and weighing between 68 to 100 kilograms (150 to 220 lbs.). Sexual dimorphism in Deinonychus was present. While both sexes had either vertical or round pupils in their eyes; males were a grayish-blue color with light blue horizontal striping from the start of the neck to the end of the tail, their eyes were red and small with a blue ring around the socket, and they also possessed quills on the top of their heads as well as having red crests. On the other hand, the females were a beige color with black markings across their body, had yellow eyes, and the head crests were also less pronounced and not red, unlike the males'.
Like all raptors, Deinonychus was a very fast, agile, quick, and swift moving predatory animals, capable of running at incredible speeds of around 30 mph and being able to leap over 10 feet (3 m.) into the air, which it did in order to attack larger prey, such as Iguanodon. As a species of raptor, Deinonychus possessed the infamous killing claw on its foot, which it used to attack and bring down its prey. They began life as infants about the size of small cats.
Behavior & Traits[]
Like all members of the raptor family, Deinonychus was known to hunt in packs, with as many as three to more than nine individuals in a single pack. Additionally, much like a pack of wolves, the pack of Deinonychus was led by an Alpha. Intelligent, vicious and aggressive predators, Deinonychus would chase after their prey before jumping onto them to kill by biting and stabbing. Males were more aggressive than females. Surprisingly, Deinonychus had been shown to even fight off dinosaurs many times their own size. Interestingly enough, while aggression among packmates (especially to usurp their leader) is known, Deinonychus were highly respectful of each other, especially their leader.
Deinonychus vocalized and trapped their prey during a hunt. Their traps were rather complex, an example of this being when a male stalks an intruding prey that wonders into the territory and pretends to be dead, waiting for the intruder to come closer and strike at the right time. Their nests were created close to other nests of their kind. When one or more eggs were taken from the nest, the pack who owned that nest would relentlessly pursue whoever stole their eggs.