Deinonychus

"Deinonychus antirrhopus"

***Deinonychus***  is a small sized dromaeosaurid carnivore in Path of Titans. *Deinonychus* is a terrestrial dinosaur that takes on a supportive scout playstyle, focusing on supporting teammates and using its speed to spot enemies and items far ahead.

The *Deinonychus* is the smallest playable carnivore in the game to date, and was funded through the crowdfunding campaign. It will be freely playable by anyone and will have three skins at launch. One skin is based on a modern day bird, the ring-necked pheasant. It will also include a skin inspired by a modern day turkey and a hoatzin.
This tiny predator will have to use teamwork in order to take down most forms of prey. Even the smallest AI creatures such as lizards and turtles are nearly as large as it, and will provide a formidable opponent for the *Deinonychus*. Though, being small has its advantages. The *Deinonychus* is extremely fast for its size, and is able to maneuver very well while running. Catching one of these will be difficult for any larger dinosaur, as this raptor can quickly dart into bushes and lose nearly any pursuant.

## Appearance

*Deinonychus* is a small feathered raptor that sports high speed, quick turning, high maneuverability, and a high jump height. It will stretch its winged arms out to better balance while turning, and uses its large fanned tail as a display structure. This tiny predator will have to use teamwork in order to take down most forms of prey. Even the smallest AI creatures such as lizards and turtles are nearly as large as it, and will provide a formidable opponent for the *Deinonychus*. Though, the *Deinonychus* is extremely fast for its size, and is able to maneuver very well while running. Catching one of these will be difficult for any larger dinosaur, as this raptor can quickly dart into bushes and lose nearly any pursuant.

Check out dinosaur stats for more details.

## Abilities

These are the **Abilities** *Deinonychus* can use for combat.

## Paleo Info

*Deinonychus* is a genus of feathered carnivorous theropod dinosaur that was described by John H. Ostrom in 1969. *Deinonychus* has one described species, *Deinonychus antirrhopus*. This species lived during the early Cretaceous Period, about 115–108 million years ago (from the mid-Aptian to early Albian stages). Fossils have been recovered from the U.S. states of Montana, Utah, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, in rocks of the Cloverly Formation, Cedar Mountain Formation, and Antlers Formation, though teeth that may belong to *Deinonychus* have been found much farther east in Maryland. *Deinonychus* belongs to the cladeEudromaeosauria which is apart of the family Dromaeosauridae.

*Deinonychus* means "terrible claw" in Greek, referring to its sickle claw which was commonplace among the dromaeosaurids. The species name *antirrhopus* means "counterbalancing" in Greek and is referring to this purpose as a likely one for the stiff tail of *Deinonychus*.

*Deinonychus* was around 3.4 meters (11 ft) long and around 73 - 100 kg (161 - 220 lbs), making it a moderately sized dromaeosaur.

*Deinonychus* is perhaps best known for starting the Dinosaur Renaissance, a paradigm shift in the overall biology of dinosaurs. John Ostrom's study of *Deinonychus* challenged the idea that dinosaurs were dim-witted, cold blooded animals, and instead showed that all, if not most, were active and warm-blooded. He noted the horizontal posture, ratite-like vertebrae, and the enlarged sickle claws on the feet, suggesting that *Deinonychus* was an active predator.

As is considered to be the case for most dromaeosaurids, *Deinonychus* probably used a method called RPR (Raptor Prey Restraint) to subdue prey, comparable to that of modern day acciptrid birds of prey, a group that contains hawks, eagles, kites, etc. This involves pinning down and gripping the prey with its sickle claw, using its weight to keep the prey from escaping. *Deinonychus* would then feed on the animal while it was alive, like acciptrids, and would continue to when the prey died of blood loss and organ failure. It has also been suggested that the remiges (arm feathers) of *Deinonychus* could have been used as flapping stabilizers in order to keep its balance while pinning down prey.

Ostrom originally speculated that *Deinonychus* was a speedy animal because of its similarities to modern ratites, however, at the time, a full leg was not discovered yet. When the first complete leg of *Deinonychus* was discovered, Ostrom noted that the femur (thigh bone) to tibia (shin bone) ratio was not characteristic of a fast animal, so while *Deinonychus* was not a slow animal, it certainly wasn't as fast as some other, more cursorial dinosaurs such as ornithomimids and ratites.

In the past, *Deinonychus* has been suggested to be able to climb trees. Currently the consensus today is that juveniles and sub-adults have a stronger claw curvature as well as longer forelimbs, showing that they were probably able to climb on trees based on the hypothesis that *Deinonychus* used its recurved claws to climb trees. As the animal grew, its claws would have straightened out and it would have become predominantly terrestrial.

Many *Deinonychus* fossils have been found with the contemporary ornithopod *Tenontosaurus*. This has spurred a debate into whether dromaeosaurids did hunt in packs, or if this was just a congregation of unaffiliated individuals. In reality, *Deinonychus* probably wasn't a pack hunter, instead coming in congregations and coincidentally hunting the same prey, fighting over it afterwards, unlike how it is commonly depicted hunting cooperatively together. This is because most modern archosaurs (the group that includes birds and crocodilians) show little evidence of pack-hunting, two exceptions being the Cuban crocodile and Harris hawk, both of which have been observed hunting cooperatively together. Despite this, it is likely that most predatory dinosaurs, such as *Deinonychus*, did not hunt in packs, or at the very least did not hunt in organized packs like today's wolves, instead mobbing prey in an unorganized manner.

In the Cloverly Formation, *Deinonychus* coexisted with *Acrocanthosaurus*, *Microvenator*, *Sauroposeidon*, *Tenontosaurus*, *Zephyrosaurus*, *Sauropelta,* *Aquilops*, and many various species of mammals, fish, and turtles. In the Cedar Mountain Formation, an indeterminate species of *Deinonychus* was discovered and lived with many ornithopods, ankylosaurs, sauropods, and other kinds of theropods such as other species of dromaeosaurids, the large carnivore *Siats*, the small tyrannosaur *Moros*, a large carnosaur similar to *Acrocanthosaurus*, *Falcarius*, *Geminiraptor*, *Nedcolbertia*, and many other species of reptiles including crocodile relatives, lizards, turtles, as well as fish and mammals. The fauna *Deinonychus* coexisted within the Antlers Formation which was largely similar to that of the Cloverly Formation.

## Trivia

* The *Deinonychus* is planned to have a pouncing ability, this ability will allow it to jump on the sides of larger creatures and inflict damage. This ability is currently not available.
* *Deinonychus* is currently the smallest playable carnivore.

## Skins

List of all *Deinonychus* skins found in Path of Titans.

### Obtainable

##### Base Game Skins

These skins can be unlocked using marks in-game.

Default
Common
 FREEPheasant
Common
 1,500Secretary
Common
 2,000Gallopavo
Common
 1,000Barred
Common
 1,000Clover
Common
 2,500Blaze
Uncommon
 4,000Sulphur
Uncommon
 5,000Brightback
Uncommon
 3,500Speckled
Uncommon
 3,000Mosaic
Rare
 6,000Fluorescent
Rare
 6,500Cardinal
Rare
 7,500Albino
Legendary
 10,000Melanistic
Legendary
 10,000
#### Store Skins

These skins can only be acquired through the Alderon Games Store for a limited time.

BackerBluejay (Referral Exclusive)
## Gallery

### Videos

De-Extinction - Deinonychus

1. ↑ POT Dev Blog #18