Deinonychus

terrible claw

• deinos · Greek · terrible, fearsome
• onyx · Greek · claw

The name comes from the Greek words for "terrible" and "claw". It refers to the large, sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of each hind foot, which was held off the ground and is thought to have been used in capturing prey. John Ostrom named it in 1969, and its bird-like anatomy helped revive the idea that birds descended from dinosaurs.

Named by

Ostrom

Year named

1969

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Aptian – Albian

Found in

Cloverly Formation, Montana and Wyoming, USA (also possibly Oklahoma's Antlers Formation)

A dromaeosaurid theropod. The type species is Deinonychus antirrhopus. It is often linked with the Cloverly Formation, which dates to roughly the Aptian–Albian.