Dromaeosaurus

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***Dromaeosaurus*** was a genus of dromaeosaurid dinosaur which lived during the Upper Cretaceous period, about 75 million years ago. Its remains were found in the western United States and Alberta, Canada.

## Description 
*Dromaeosaurus albertensis* was a small carnivore, the size of a wolf, about 2&nbsp;m (7&nbsp;ft) in length and 15&nbsp;kg (40&nbsp;lb) in weight. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth, and it had a large "sickle claw" on each foot. It lived during the Upper Cretaceous: some teeth which may belong to it have been found from the latest Cretaceous, 65.5 million years ago.

Although only a few bones are known from the hind limb, they indicate that *Dromaeosaurus* was a powerfully built animal. The presence of feathers in closely related animals makes it extremely likely that it was feathered as well.

*Dromaeosaurus* had large eyes and excellent vision. It also probably had a good sense of smell and hearing. Its neck was curved and flexible and its jaws were solidly built. The tail was flexible at the base but sheathed in a lattice of bony rods; this allowed it to be carried in an upturned position.

## Discovery and later findings 
Despite widespread attention in popular books about dinosaurs, and complete mounted skeleton casts in many museums, *Dromaeosaurus* is surprisingly poorly known from actual fossils. The popular cast by the Tyrrell Museum was only made possible by knowledge gained from other dromaeosaurs discovered more recently.

The first known *Dromaeosaurus* remains were discovered by paleontologist Barnum Brown during a 1914 expedition to Red Deer River on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History.

Several species of *Dromaeosaurus* have been described, but *Dromaeosaurus albertensis* is the most complete specimen. The genus is even rarer than other small theropods, although it was one of the first small theropods described.

Matthew and Brown originally placed *Dromaeosaurus* within "Deinodontidae" (now known as Tyrannosauridae), based on some similarities in the general proportions of the skull. In 1969, John Ostrom recognized that *Dromaeosaurus* shared many features with *Velociraptor* and the newly-discovered *Deinonychus*, and assigned these forms to a new family: Dromaeosauridae.

## Palaeobiology and diet 
*Dromaeosaurus* differs from most of its relatives in having a short, massive skull, a deep mandible, and robust teeth. The teeth tend to be more heavily-worn than those of its relative *Saurornitholestes*, suggesting that its jaws were used for crushing and tearing rather than simply slicing through flesh. *Dromaeosaurus* had a bite nearly three times as powerful as that of a *Velociraptor*.

It is possible that, unlike most other dromaeosaurs, *Dromaeosaurus* relied more on its jaws than its claws to dispatch its prey. It was probably better suited to tackling large prey than the more lightly-built *Saurornitholestes*.

## Relationships 
The relationships of *Dromaeosaurus* are unclear. Although its rugged build gives it a primitive appearance, it was actually a very specialized animal. It is usually given its own subfamily, the Dromaeosaurinae; this group is thought to include *Utahraptor*, *Achillobator*, *Adasaurus*, and possibly *Deinonychus*. However, the relationships of dromaeosaurs are still in a state of flux.

## In popular culture 
*Dromaeosaurus* are featured in *Walking with Dinosaurs*, stalking juvenile *Torosaurus* and attempting to steal eggs from *Tyrannosaurus*, despite never coexisting with the latter in real life.
*Dromaeosaurus* makes an appearance in *Jurassic Fight Club*, where a pack is shown being capable of taking down *Edmontosaurus* in spite of the carnivores' small size, but the carcass is later taken by a *Tyrannosaurus* (despite the tyrannosaur not being contemporaneous with *Dromaeosaurus*). 
* Dromaeosaurus * was also often seen throughout the show, *Dino Dan*, which was about a boy who could see dinosaurs in the modern day world.

## References