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Deinonychus

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Dinosaurs

   iDeinonychus

                       Fossil range: Early Cretaceous

   Model of a Deinonychus skull.
   Model of a Deinonychus skull.
               Scientific classification

   Kingdom:    Animalia
   Phylum:     Chordata
   Class:      Sauropsida
   Superorder: Dinosauria
   Order:      Saurischia
   Suborder:   Theropoda
   Infraorder: Coelurosauria
   Family:     Dromaeosauridae
   Subfamily:  Dromaeosaurinae
   Genus:      Deinonychus
   Species:    D. antirrhopus

                                Binomial name

   Deinonychus antirrhopus
   Ostrom, 1969

   Deinonychus ( IPA: [dai.ˈna.ni.kəs]) meaning 'terrible claw' ( Greek
   δεινος meaning 'terrible' and ονυξ/ονυχος meaning 'claw') was a 7-10
   foot long, carnivorous dromaeosaurid dinosaur species from the Early
   Cretaceous Period. Its name refers to the unusually large,
   sickle-shaped talon (on the second toe of each hind foot), which was
   probably held retracted while the dinosaur walked on the third and
   fourth toes. It was commonly thought that Deinonychus would kick with
   the sickle claw to slash at its prey but recent tests on
   reconstructions of similar Velociraptor talons suggest that the claw
   was used to stab, not slash. Like with all dromaeosaurids the tail was
   stiffened by a series of ossified tendons. This might have given
   Deinonychus greater balance and turning ability.

Discoveries

   Deinonychus antirrhopus by paleoartist John Conway
   Enlarge
   Deinonychus antirrhopus by paleoartist John Conway

   Based on the association of a number of Deinonychus skeletons in a
   single quarry — several hundred Deinonychus bones were discovered by
   paleontologist John Ostrom and Grant E. Meyer in 1964 in southern
   Montana — it has been speculated that Deinonychus lived and hunted in
   packs. Shed teeth of Deinonychus are often found alongside skeletons of
   the ornithopod dinosaur Tenontosaurus, indicating that it fed on them,
   and perhaps hunted them. John Ostrom named and described Deinonychus,
   and the discovery of this clearly active, agile predator did much to
   change the scientific (and popular) conception of dinosaurs and open
   the door to speculation that dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded.

   Several years later, Ostrom noted similarities between the 'hand' of
   Deinonychus and that of birds, which observation led him to revive the
   hypothesis that birds are descended from dinosaurs. Thirty years later,
   this idea is almost universally accepted. In fact, Deinonychus and
   other dromaeosaurids are so birdlike that there has been debate whether
   they are in fact true birds. Finds of related dinosaurs from China,
   such as Sinornithosaurus and Microraptor indicate that this dinosaur
   may have borne feathers. Other relatives include Velociraptor,
   Utahraptor, and Dromaeosaurus.

Specimens

   Deinonychus skeleton
   Enlarge
   Deinonychus skeleton

   A skeleton of Deinonychus can be seen on display at the American Museum
   of Natural History or the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. The
   American Museum and Harvard specimens are from a different locality
   than the Yale specimens, which Ostrom described and the claws are
   different shapes (Ostrom 1976). This raises the possibility that the
   two are, in fact, different species or even different genera.
     * Skull length: 410 mm (16.4 in)
     * Total length: 3 m (10 ft)
     * Hip height: 1.2 m (4 ft)
     * Weight: 80 kg (175 lb)

In popular culture

   While Deinonychus itself never appeared in any of the Jurassic Park
   books or films, the supposed Velociraptor in the films actually more
   closely resemble Deinonychus in size and shape. This was due to the
   fact that Gregory S. Paul, in his book Predatory Dinosaurs of the
   World, concluded that Deinonychus was a species of Velociraptor and
   rechristened the species Velociraptor antirrhopus, a theory that has
   since been largely rejected. Michael Crichton continued to synonymize
   the two genera in his novels, on which the first two films were based.

   Deinonychus is featured once in a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. In
   this strip, Calvin does a report on overpopulation which involves a
   story about Susie Derkins being attacked and eaten by a pack of
   Deinonychus.

   In the comic book series Runaways one of the characters received a
   Deinonychus which she named "Old Lace".

   In the children's book series Animorphs, Rachel and Tobias both morph
   this dinosaur in an attempt to escape a herd of them. They succeed, and
   later lose the morph while returning to their own time in the present.

   Deinonychus action figures were available in the Dino Riders toy-line.

   Talon from Primal Rage is based on a Deinonychus.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinonychus"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
