Dromaeosaurus
Dromaeosaurus albertensis
Pronounced: Dro - me - o - Saw - rus
Diet: Carnivore (Meat-Eater)
Name Means: "Swift Running Lizard"
Length: 6 feet (1.8 m)
Height: 2 feet (.7 m)
Weight: 33 pounds (15 kilos)
Time: Late Cretaceous - 70 mya
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in NW U.S.
and SW Canada
Dromaeosaurus was the original raptor. It was a small, vicious hunter
that had a mouth full of serrated, razor-sharp teeth and a sharp, hooked
claw on each foot that it used to clamp down on its victims.
When first discovered, Dromaeosaurus was hard to classify. It had
such large foot bones that it was thought to be a much larger dinosaur.
It had a large brain for its size, large eyes and grasping hands.
Because of this, scientists thought that it was more than twice its
actual size. It wasn't until almost 50 years after the discovery of the
type specimen that it was formally classified into its own family. All
the other raptor dinosaurs, such as
Deinonychus and Velociraptor
are members of the dromaeosaur family. |
