What is a Deinonychus?
Deinonychus was a theropod dinosaur belonging to the genus Drimeosaurs. It could measure between 2.7 to 3.40 meters long and its weight was about 75 kilograms. It was characterized by having sickle-shaped claws on the second toe of its foot.
It is possible that this claw could be retracted while the animal was moving. It is thought that he also used it to open the meat of his prey. However, recent studies and evidence based on velociraptors indicate that Deinonychus actually stabbed its prey, rather than cutting it.
He also had strong tendons that gave him balance and high turning ability in a race. According to its characteristics, it is similar to a type of bird of prey. They were medium sized and walked on their hind legs.
Finding of Deinonychus
In 1931 in Montana, paleontologist Barnum Brown found the incomplete skeleton of a dinosaur that measured about 2.5 meters in length. It was a theropod that was part of the Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex group.
He had an agile structure, with light bones. It also had long, fibrous extensions on the tail vertebrae. Brown thought this stiffened the appendage as a whole, helping the tail act as an excellent counterweight to the rest of its anatomy.
Brown, who thought about writing a manuscript regarding this discovery, was unable to do so due to his death in 1963. Before his departure he managed to show the skeleton to the young researcher known as John Ostrom.
He met him in 1964 while searching for Cretaceous dinosaurs in Bridger, Montana. He and a colleague found a clawed hand of a theropod sticking out of the ground, followed by a foot. This resulted in the appearance of another countless number of bones.
Over time, Ostrom noticed that it was the same type of animal that Brown had found decades before. He named it Deinonychus antirrhopyus in 1969. He did this with the certainty of having recovered the fossil remains of four individuals, in the same quarry in Montana. Furthermore, all of them were found near Tenontosaurus bones.
When Ostron described it he had a big revelation regarding the claws. It was evident that the Deinonychus walked holding its claws high. Until then, dinosaurs were thought to be slow and lethargic. But this discovery corrected that notion of things. It had light bones and claws always ready to fight. It was evident that it was a very active animal.
Since the end of the 60s and especially during the 70s there was the so-called Dinosaur Rebirth. It was a new trend in which what was known about these prehistoric animals was reconsidered. Birds began to be considered descended from dinosaurs, something that gained scientific consensus.
Instead, old beliefs about the metabolic rates of dinosaurs were questioned.
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What does Deinonychus mean?
The name Deinonychus originated in Greek deinos which means terrible and nyus which means claw. Hence it is interpreted as Terrible Claw.
On the other hand, due to its large tail that seemed to fulfill a compensatory role, it was also called antirrhopus which comes from Greek antiporros which means counterweight.
The Dromaeosauridae group
The Dromaeosauridae family is a clade of theropod dinosaurs. They have some derived peculiarities constituted especially in modifications in the forelimb that materialized in a flexible grip.
In fact, it is believed that this transformation was what gave rise to the flying stroke that birds have. It is currently thought that the birds had a common ancestor with the dromaeosauridae during the Jurassic.
It is because of this that they are often called the sister group to the bird clade. It is assumed that the ancestry of birds would also be in this group, making them dromaeosaurs, although there is no agreement on this yet.
The raptors
The dromaeosauridae were what is known as raptors. They were an interesting group of creatures. The clade name is actually preferred to what is known as raptors.
They were theropods whose size ranged from small, about the size of a wolf, to large with a length of up to 10 meters. They had a well-developed cutting claw on their second pedal phalanx, a rigid tail that possibly functioned as a dynamic stabilizer, and large hands for grip.
They boasted claws, muscular jaws, strong teeth and agile bodies. They were ferocious and active predators that had a versatile ability to move.
The dinosaurs that fit within this family are the Deinonychus antirrhopus, the Velociraptor mongoliensis and the Utahraptor kirkland.
The terrible claw
The killer claw was an essential structure in the Dromaeosauridae. It was very useful for killing and under normal conditions it stayed off the ground during locomotion. However, when the toe muscles contracted, this claw would lower rapidly.
The angle of the base to the tip of the claw drove the transmission of forces between the paw and the tip of the claw. This resulted in a powerful cut that could quickly disembowel an animal.
The rigid tail they had would have been useful for stabilizing the body, while the arms and jaws held the prey, preserving its balance. It has been suggested that Dromaeosauridae jumped on large prey and used all four limbs to tear it apart. Ornithomimids would have been the fastest, although this is mere speculation.
Other hypotheses indicate that they behaved like lions and that they displayed similar predatory behavior, preferring ambushes and quick chases. He would employ his maneuverability and pack tactics.
Deinonychus Vs Velociraptor
When comparing Deinonychus, one of the most striking adversaries is Velociraptor, a theropod that had similar characteristics. An analysis of its particularities could reveal who would have been the winner in a fight to the death.
Differences
The main differences between these dinosaurs are related to the size of each one and their lifestyle. As we said before, Deinonychus could weigh around 75 kilos, sometimes reaching 95. And it could measure around 3 meters. It is thought that he hunted alone or in packs.
The Velociraptor had a volume of around 22 kilos and could measure less than a meter in height. Despite what is believed, he hunted alone and could even confront his own.
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Size
Deinonychus was larger than Velociraptor and had greater length. If the first could measure 3.4 meters in length, the second barely exceeded a meter in length, in some cases reaching almost 2 meters.
Speed and movement
Velociraptor was faster than Deinonychus. He could run between 16 to 38 km/h. On the other hand, Deinonychus had a larger body since its legs were built to favor power over speed.
It is thought that his walk was 9 km/h and that he could run up to 32 km/h for short distances.
Defenses
The Deinonychus had the ability to use its size and threatening posture to intimidate. But the Velociraptor was very fast and agile, which helped it protect itself against countless predators.
Offensive capacity
When attacking its prey, Deinonychus had the ability to jump, catch it with its claws and devour it with its powerful bites. It had a bite comparable to that of an alligator and with its claws it inflicted great damage.
The Velociraptor attacked in a similar way since it would use its feet to kill its prey in most cases. Their tails helped them maintain balance while they cut down their prey. They tore it apart with their sharp teeth.
Predatory behavior
The Velociraptor was carnivorous, but it was a solitary hunter that searched for its food at night. Deinonychus was a solitary hunter that occasionally used opportunistic or group ambush predation. It is believed that if he was with others of his species it is because they were all after the same prey.
And the winner is…
After seeing its characteristics, everything seems to indicate that the winner would have been Deinonychus, due to its size. Although volume is not always synonymous with victory, in this case seeing their similarities would be the decisive factor.
The Deinonychus would not have too much difficulty beating the Velociraptor since it is a larger version of theropod. It would give him a deep and lethal blow and could also deal with him if he appeared in groups.
Characteristics of Deinonychus
Deinonychus has been studied by specialists, who have been able to establish its most important characteristics. Get to know them below.
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Classification
It is classified in the suborder Theropoda in the family Dromaeosauridae and the clade Eudromaeosauridae. It was related to the Velociraptor and it is likely that it had an ancestor in common with it.
This group of theropods is similar to birds. They are usually called raptorsa term best known from the Jurassic Park film saga.
When he lived
It is estimated that he lived during the early Cretaceous period during the Mesozoic era. Its remains found in North America are about 127 million years old.
Habitat
The first specimen of Deinonychus antirrhopus was discovered by paleontologist JH Ostrom in Montana, in the Cloverly Formation in 1969. Specimens have also been found in Colorado and Wyoming.
During the early Cretaceous period North America was dominated by an inland seaway that progressed and retreated many times during this time, over the central western regions.
At that time vegetables evolved into flowering angiosperm plants. This was the food source for hadrosaurs and other plant-browsing dinosaurs.
Size
These dinosaurs would have measured around 2.5 meters and weighed around 68 kg on average. It was a fast and agile predator with quite developed intelligence, with which it moved in a complex way when hunting animals.
Physique and locomotion
Deinonychus was a theropod dinosaur. Therefore it walked on its two hind legs, which were more developed than the previous ones. It was characterized by having sickle-shaped claws on its upper extremities with which it could annihilate its prey.
It also had a long, thin and firm tail, which was made up of bony rods. This was a part of his anatomy that allowed him to run and attack while maintaining balance.
Lifestyle and diet
Their diet was carnivorous. There is no evidence that Deinonychus lived in herds. He was more of a solitary hunter who sometimes collaborated with others of his species opportunistically to go after prey.
It generally devoured smaller animals that it could gut…