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Dromaeosaurid
Dromaeosauridae () is a family (biology), family of feathered coelurosaurian Theropoda, theropod dinosaurs. They were generally small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous period (geology), Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Ancient Greek, Greek ('), meaning 'running at full speed', 'swift', and ('), meaning 'lizard'. In informal usage, they are often called raptors (after ''Velociraptor''), a term popularized by the film ''Jurassic Park (film), Jurassic Park''; several Genus, genera include the term "raptor" directly in their name, and popular culture has come to emphasize their bird-like appearance and speculated bird-like behavior. Dromaeosaurid fossils have been found across the globe in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, with some fossils giving credence to the possibility that they inhabited Australia as well. The earliest body fossils are known from the Early Cretaceous (145–140 million y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eudromaeosauria
Eudromaeosauria (International Phonetic Alphabet, ; "true dromaeosaurs") is a subgroup of terrestrial Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs. They were small to large-sized predators that flourished during the Cretaceous Period (geology), Period. Eudromaeosaur fossils are known almost exclusively from the northern hemisphere. They first appeared in the early Cretaceous Period and survived until the end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage, Ma). The earliest known definitive eudromaeosaur is the probable dromaeosaurine ''Yurgovuchia'', from the Cedar Mountain Formation, dated to 139 million years ago. However, the earlier (143-million-year-old) fossils such as those of ''Nuthetes'' and several indeterminate teeth dating to the Kimmeridgian stage may represent eudromaeosaurs. While other dromaeosaurids filled a variety of specialized ecological niches, mainly those of small predators or specialized piscivores, eudromaeosaurs functioned as hypercarnivores and are sug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velociraptor
''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is ''V. mongoliensis'', named and described in 1924. Fossils of this species have been discovered in the Djadochta Formation, Mongolia. A second species, ''V. osmolskae'', was named in 2008 for skull material from the Bayan Mandahu Formation, China. Smaller than other dromaeosaurids like ''Deinonychus'' and '' Achillobator'', ''Velociraptor'' was about long with a body mass around . It nevertheless shared many of the same anatomical features. It was a bipedal, feathered carnivore with a long tail and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot, which is thought to have been used to tackle and restrain prey. ''Velociraptor'' can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deinonychus
''Deinonychus'' ( ; ) is a genus of Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid Theropoda, theropod dinosaur with one described species, ''Deinonychus antirrhopus''. This species, which could grow up to long, lived during the early Cretaceous Period (geology), Period, about 115–108 million years ago (from the mid-Aptian to early Albian Stage (stratigraphy), stages). Fossils have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, in rocks of the Cloverly Formation and Antlers Formation, though teeth that may belong to ''Deinonychus'' have been found much farther east in Maryland. Paleontology, Paleontologist John Ostrom's study of ''Deinonychus'' in the late 1960s revolutionized the way scientists thought about dinosaurs, leading to the "dinosaur renaissance" and igniting the debate on whether dinosaurs were endotherm, warm-blooded or ectotherm, cold-blooded. Before this, the popular conception of dinosaurs had been one of plodding, reptile, reptilian gian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zhenyuanlong
''Zhenyuanlong'' (meaning ''"Zhenyuan's dragon"'', from Chinese language, Chinese Pinyin :wikt:龙, 龙/:wikt:龍, 龍 lóng ''"dragon"'') is a genus of Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid dinosaur from the Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. It lived during the Aptian age of the Early Cretaceous, early Cretaceous period, approximately 125 million years ago. It is known from a single specimen belonging to the species ''Zhenyuanlong suni'' (Chinese: 孫氏振元龍). This type specimen preserved a nearly complete skeleton that contains traces of feathers, including long tail feathers and large wings. In addition to further complicating diversity of Liaoning dromaeosaurids, this specimen provides the first direct evidence of well-developed Pennaceous feather, pennaceous feathers in a large, non-flying dromaeosaur, raising the question of what function such wings would serve. Discovery The specimen was found by a local farmer near Sihedang in Jianchang, Liaoning Province and was later s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyroraptor
''Pyroraptor'' (meaning "fire thief") is an extinct genus of paravian dinosaur, probably a dromaeosaurid or unenlagiid, from the Late Cretaceous Ibero-Armorican island, of what is now southern France. It lived during the late Campanian and early Maastrichtian stages, approximately 72 million years ago. It is known from a single partial specimen that was found in Provence in 1992, after a forest fire. The animal was named ''Pyroraptor olympius'' by Allain and Taquet in 2000. Discovery and naming Naming and Material The first remains of ''P. olympius'' were discovered in southeastern France, at the La Boucharde locality of the Arc Basin in Provence. It was described and named by French paleontologists Ronan Allain and Philippe Taquet in 2000, the type species and so far the only species is ''Pyroraptor olympius''. The generic name comes from ''πῦρ'' (''pûr'', Greek for "fire") and ''raptor'' (Latin for "thief"), since its remains were discovered after a forest f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tianyuraptor
''Tianyuraptor'' is a genus of short-armed dromaeosaurid dinosaur ('running lizard'; a type of small dinosaur considered to be closely related to birds) that lived during the Early Cretaceous, about 122 million years ago. Its remains have been found in western Liaoning, China. It was similar to other dromaeosaurids found in Liaoning, with the exception of being somewhat more primitive. The type specimen, formally named in 2009, shows features not seen in previously known Northern Hemisphere (Laurasian) dromaeosaurids, but present in Southern Hemisphere (Gondwanan) species and early birds. Because of this, the scientists who first studied ''Tianyuraptor'' described it as a " transitional species", bridging the gap between northern and southern types of dromaeosaurid. ''Tianyuraptor'' also differs from previously known dromaeosaurids in that it possesses a relatively small furcula ("wishbone"), and unusually short forelimbs. Etymology The generic name of ''Tianyuraptor'' combi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buitreraptor
''Buitreraptor'' (meaning "La Buitrera seizer") is a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived during the Late Cretaceous of Argentina at the Candeleros Formation. ''Buitreraptor'' was described in 2005 and the type species is ''Buitreraptor gonzalezorum''. It was rooster-sized and had a very elongated head with many small teeth. History of discovery Four specimens of ''Buitreraptor'' were found in 2004 in sandstone in Patagonia, Argentina during an excavation led by Sebastián Apesteguia, researcher of CONICET at the Fundacion Felix de Azara - Maimonides University, and Peter Makovicky, curator of dinosaurs at the Field Museum in Chicago. ''Buitreraptor'' is from the early Late Cretaceous Candeleros Formation, dating to the Cenomanian-Turonian ages approximately 98 to 97 million years ago, when South America was an isolated continent like Australia today. It was uncovered in a famous fossil site named ''La Buitrera'', the "vulture roost". Although dinosaurs are rare in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microraptor
''Microraptor'' (Greek language, Greek, μικρός, ''mīkros'': "small"; Latin language, Latin, ''raptor'': "one who seizes") is a genus of small, four-winged dromaeosaurid dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China. They date from the early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation (Aptian stage), 125 to 120 million years ago. Three species have been named (''M. zhaoianus'', ''M. gui'', and ''M. hanqingi''), though further study has suggested that all of them represent variation in a single species, which is properly called ''M. zhaoianus''. ''Cryptovolans'', initially described as another four-winged dinosaur, is usually considered to be a synonym of ''Microraptor''. Like ''Archaeopteryx'', well-preserved fossils of ''Microraptor'' provide important evidence about the evolutionary relationship between birds and earlier dinosaurs. ''Microraptor'' had long pennaceous feathers that formed aerodynamic surfaces on the arms and tail but a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microraptoria
Microraptoria (Greek, μίκρος, ''mīkros'': "small"; Latin, ''raptor'': "one who seizes") is a clade of basal Dromaeosauridae, dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs. Definitive microraptorians lived during the Barremian to Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous in China. Probable microraptorian ichnotaxon ''Dromaeosauriformipes'' was discovered from the Jinju Formation of South Korea, and some fragmentary Late Cretaceous Paraves, paravian fossils in North America have been described as putative members of this clade. Many are known for long feathers on their legs and may have been arboreal, semiarboreal powered fliers, some of which were even capable of launching from the ground.. Most microraptorians were relatively small; adult specimens of ''Microraptor'' range between ) and weigh up to , making them some of the Dinosaur size, smallest known non-avialan dinosaurs.Holtz, Thomas R. Jr. (2011) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutionary history, evolution of dinosaurs is a subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201.3 mya and their dominance continued throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record shows that birds are feathered dinosaurs, Evolution of birds, having evolved from earlier Theropoda, theropods during the Late Jurassic epoch, and are the only dinosaur lineage known to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event approximately 66 mya. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs—birds—and the extinct non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. Dinosaurs are varied from taxonomy (biology), taxonomic, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variraptor
''Variraptor'' ( ; "Var thief") is a possibly dubious and potentially chimaeric genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of France. Discovery Between 1992 and 1995 amateur paleontologists Patrick Méchin and Annie Méchin-Salessy uncovered the remains of a small theropod in the Grès à Reptiles Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) at La Bastide Neuve, near Fox-Amphoux. The first finds were in 1992 assigned to the theropod genus '' Elopteryx''. A second article, in 1997, concluded they represented a new species. In 1998 this was named by Jean Le Loeuff and Eric Buffetaut as the type species ''Variraptor mechinorum''. The generic name is derived from Latin ''Varus'', referring to the Var River in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence region of southern France, and ''raptor'' meaning "thief". The specific name honours the Méchin couple. The genus is based on three type specimens: a posterior dorsal vertebra (MDE-D168), a sacrum (MDE-D169 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
