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sharp-clawed runner
Deinonychus
Say it like this: “dy-NON-ih-kuhs”
Deinonychus antirrhopus
Deinonychus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Albian · Cenomanian) · roughly 113.2 to 93.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 1969 · Ostrom, J. H.
- Hip height
- 0.9 m · 3 ft
- Length
- 3.3–3.4 m · 11–11 ft
- Weight
- 60–100 kg · 132–220 lb
- Found in
- the United States · Cloverly
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Eudromaeosauria
The story in short
Deinonychus was formally named in 1969 by J. H. Ostrom. The name means “terrible claw.”
It lived in the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Albian · Cenomanian), roughly 113.2 to 93.9 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Cloverly Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Deinonychus at a length near 3.3–3.4 m, hips about 0.9 m high, and a body mass around 60–100 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Eudromaeosauria, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Acheroraptor
Acheroraptor temertyorum
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Bambiraptor
Bambiraptor feinbergi
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Boreonykus
Boreonykus certekorum
Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago