Dinosaurs A to Z
Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosaurus drohmeeuh-SƆːRUHS,_-MEE.OH

"running lizard"

Generic raptor body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Dromaeosaurus 2 m (6.6 ft) long
as long as 2 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic raptor body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Dromaeosaurus
Length
2 m (6.6 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (83.6–68 Mya)
Place
United States · Canada · Alberta, Canada
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Dromaeosauridae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Sickle-clawed raptors: Velociraptor, Deinonychus, Utahraptor.

Dromaeosaurus (; “running lizard”) is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period (middle to late Campanian and Maastrichtian), sometime between 80 and 69 million years ago, in the Canadian province of Alberta and the western United States. The type species is Dromaeosaurus albertensis, which was described by William Diller Matthew and Barnum Brown in 1922. Its fossils were unearthed in the Hell Creek Formation, Horseshoe Canyon Formation and Dinosaur Park Formation. Teeth attributed to this genus have been found in the Prince Creek Formation. Dromaeosaurus is the type genus of both Dromaeosauridae and Dromaeosaurinae, which include many genera with similar characteristics to Dromaeosaurus such as possibly its closest relative Dakotaraptor.

What we know

  • Named by Matthew & Brown, 1922.
  • Body length estimated at about 2 m.
  • Fossils found in United States and Canada.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Dromaeosaurus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.