Dromaeosaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Dromaeosaurus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Infraorder: Coelurosauria Family: Dromaeosauridae Subfamily: Dromaeosaurinae Genus: Dromaeosaurus Matthew & Brown, 1922
Species
D. albertensis (type) D. cristatus D. explanatus D. gracilis Geography of the US in the Late Cretaceous Period Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya) refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white chalk cliffs of southern England, which date from this time. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Clades Subclass Anapsida Subclass Diapsida Infraclass Lepidosauromorpha Infraclass Archosauromorpha Sauropsids are a diverse group of mostly egg-laying vertebrate animals. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Groups Sauropodomorpha    Saturnalia    Prosauropoda    Sauropoda Theropoda    Eoraptor    Herrerasauridae    Ceratosauria    Tetanurae       Aves(extant) Saurischians (from the Greek Saurischia meaning lizard hip) are one of the two orders/branches of dinosaurs. ... Subdivisions ?Eoraptor Herrerasauria Coelophysoidea Ceratosauria Cryolophosaurus Spinosauridae Carnosauria Coelurosauria Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. ... Sub-groups Compsognathidae Maniraptora Ornithomimosauria Tyrannosauroidea Coelurosauria is a diverse group of theropod dinosaurs that includes a number of subgroups, such as Tyrannosauroidea, Ornithomimosauria, and Maniraptora. ... Genera See text. ... Genera Achillobator Adasaurus Atrociraptor Bambiraptor Buitreraptor Cryptovolans Deinonychus Dromaeosaurus Dromaeosauroides Graciliraptor Microraptor Neuquenraptor Pyroraptor Rahonavis Saurornitholestes Sinornithosaurus Tsaagan Unenlagia Utahraptor Variraptor Velociraptor Dromaeosaurids, raptors or members of the family Dromaeosauridae (running lizards from Greek dromeus (δρομευς) meaning runner and sauros (σαυρος) meaning lizard) are theropod dinosaurs. ... Barnum Brown (1873-1963) was perhaps the most famous fossil hunter of the early Twentieth Century. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Species (disambiguation). ... In zoological nomenclature, a type is a specimen or a taxon. ...

Dromaeosaurus (pronounced /ˌdrɒmioʊˈsɔrəs/) was a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period (Campanian), about 76 - 72 million years ago, in Alberta, Canada. The name means 'running lizard' and is derived from the Greek dromeus (δρομευς) meaning 'runner' and sauros (σαυρος) meaning 'lizard'. Families See text Theropods (beast foot) are a group of bipedal, primarily carnivorous dinosaurs, belonging to the saurischian (lizard-hip) family. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Thyreophora Ornithopoda Marginocephalia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... Geography of the US in the Late Cretaceous Period Late Cretaceous (100mya - 65mya) refers to the second half of the Cretaceous Period, named after the famous white chalk cliffs of southern England, which date from this time. ... The Campanian is a stage on the geologic time scale occuring from 83. ... For other uses, see Alberta (disambiguation). ...

Dromaeosaurus is surprisingly poorly known, although a cast of a complete mounted skeleton, prepared by the Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada, appears in several museums throughout the world. Its construction was made possible by knowledge of others of the group that have been discovered more recently.

Dromaeosaurus is known from a partial skull, foot fragments and ribs from Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta. Several other bones, and dozens of isolated teeth, are also known. Dinosaur Provincial Park is a World Heritage Site located about 2 hours drive east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada or 48 kilometres northeast of the community of Brooks. ...

Dromaeosaurus albertensis is the most complete specimen and it is apparent that this genus is even rarer than other small theropods. It was one of the first small theropods described based on reasonably good cranial material, and gives its name to its family.

Description

Dromaeosaurus was a small vicious hunter, the size of a wolf, about 1.8 m (6 ft) in length and 15 kg (33 lb) in weight. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth. A sharp hooked claw on each foot was used to clamp down on its prey. Wolf Wolf Man Mount Wolf Wolf Prizes Wolf Spider Wolf 424 Wolf 359 Wolf Point Wolf-herring Frank Wolf Friedrich Wolf Friedrich August Wolf Hugo Wolf Johannes Wolf Julius Wolf Max Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf Maximilian Wolf Rudolf Wolf Thomas Wolf As Name Wolf Breidenbach Wolf Hirshorn Other The call...

Dromaeosaurus had remarkably large eyes and excellent vision. It also probably had a good sense of smell and hearing. It had a curved flexible neck and its jaws were long and solidly built. The tail was flexible at the base but sheathed in a lattice of bony rods; this allowed it to be carried in a sharply upturned position. The sickle-like claws were an advantage over most of its victims.

Research has shown that Dromaeosaurus most likely had a "feathered" look. It is part of the family of raptors that eventually came to include the Dromaeosauridae and is an important link between dinosaur and bird evolution. Genera See text. ...

Characteristics

Two mounted Dromaeosaurus skeletons, at the Natural History Museum, London.

Dromaeosaurus differs from most other Dromaeosauridae in having a short, massive skull, a deep mandible, and robust teeth. In these respects Dromaeosaurus resembled the tyrannosaurs. Although only a few bones are known from the hindlimb, they indicate that Dromaeosaurus was a powerfully built animal. Exactly how Dromaeosaurus lived and what it ate are still open to speculation. The teeth tend to be more heavily worn than those of its relative Saurornitholestes, suggesting that its jaws were used for crushing and tearing rather than simply slicing through flesh. It is possible that Dromaeosaurus was more of a scavenger than other small theropods, or it may be that Dromaeosaurus relied more heavily on its jaws to dispatch its prey. It was probably better suited to tackling large prey than the more lightly built Saurornitholestes. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 444 pixelsFull resolution (900 × 500 pixel, file size: 392 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo taken by User:Ballista Image edited in Adobe PhotoShop by User:Firsfron Photo is of Dromaeosaurus exhibit in the National History Museum, London. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 444 pixelsFull resolution (900 × 500 pixel, file size: 392 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Photo taken by User:Ballista Image edited in Adobe PhotoShop by User:Firsfron Photo is of Dromaeosaurus exhibit in the National History Museum, London. ... For other similarly-named museums see Museum of Natural History. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Genera See text. ... Saurornitholestes langstoni is a coyote-sized carnivorous dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America. ...

Relationships

The relationships of Dromaeosaurus are unclear. Although its rugged build gives it a primitive appearance, it was actually a very specialized animal. It is usually given its own subfamily, the Dromaeosaurinae; this group is thought to include Utahraptor, Achillobator, Adasaurus and perhaps Deinonychus. However, the relationships of dromaeosaurs are still in a state of flux. "Dromaeosaurus Morphotype A" is the designation given to a series of unusual, ridged dromaeosaur teeth from Alberta. These teeth probably do not belong to Dromaeosaurus, although it is unclear from what animal they do come. Species U. ostrommaysorum (Kirkland, Gaston & Burge, 1993) (type) Utahraptor (meaning Utah thief) is the largest known member of the theropod dinosaur family Dromaeosauridae, and dates from the upper Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period (132-119 million years ago). ... Binomial name Achillobator giganticus , Achillobator giganticus was a carnivorous dinosaur. ... Binomial name Amphicoelias fragillimus Richen Barsbold, 1983 Adasaurus (Ada Lizard) was a bird-like carnivorous dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period. ... Species D. antirrhopus (type) Ostrom, 1969 Deinonychus (pronounced ) (Greek δεινος, terrible and ονυξ/ονυχος, claw) was a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur. ...

In popular culture

Dromaeosaurus are featured in Walking with Dinosaurs, stalking Torosaurus and stealing eggs from Tyrannosaurus. Walking with Dinosaurs was a six-part television series produced by the BBC, narrated by Kenneth Branagh, and first aired in the UK in 1999. ... Binomial name Marsh, 1891 Torosaurus (meaning perforated lizard) was a ceratopsid dinosaur genus. ... Species T. rex (type) Osborn, 1905 Synonyms Manospondylus Cope, 1892 Dynamosaurus Osborn, 1905  ?Nanotyrannus Bakker, Williams & Currie, 1988 Stygivenator Olshevsky, 1995 Dinotyrannus Olshevsky, 1995 Tyrannosaurus (pronounced IPA: , meaning tyrant lizard) is a genus of theropod dinosaur. ...

Gallery

References

• Dixon, Dougal (2006). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (Lorenz Books): 200-201.
• Matthew, W. D. and B. Brown (1922). The family Deinodontidae, with notice of a new genus from Cretaceous of Alberta. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 46: 367-385.
• Colbert, E. and D. A. Russell (1969). The small Cretaceous dinosaur Dromaeosaurus. American Museum Novitates 2380: 1-49.
• Currie, P. J., K. J. Rigby, et al. (1990). Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches. P. J. Currie and K. Carpenter. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press: 107-125.
• Currie, P. J. (1995). New information on the anatomy and relationships of Dromaeosaurus albertensis (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 15(3): 576-591.

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