Adult and baby dromaeosaurs (DROH-me-oh-SORE)
Click to zoom.
Dromaeosaurs were two-legged, meat-eating theropod dinosaurs with long, slender arms, a stiffened tail for balance, and a large, hooked claw on each foot. Many distinctive curved teeth and one partial vertebra provide evidence that dromaeosaurs lived here. Estimated to be about 1.5 meters (5 feet) long, this dromaeosaur was similar in size to its better-known relatives Velociraptor (veh-LAH-sih-RAP-tore) and Deinonychus (die-NON-i-kuss). Many anatomical similarities, including feathers, tell scientists that dromaeosaurs were very closely related to birds and would have looked very bird-like.
Dromaeosaur tooth. Note the knife-like edge, typical of meat-eating dinosaurs. Click to zoom.
Would you like to know more about:
- How do paleontologists identify dinosaur teeth?
Watch Dr. Matthew Carrano, Curator of Dinosauria, identify Cretaceous dinosaur teeth discovered near Washington DC..
- How do we know what the dromaeosaur looked like?
- How do we know that some dinosaurs cared for their young? Watch a video.