Temporal range: Middle Jurassic – Late Cretaceous, 164–65.5Ma
|Deinonychus antirrhopus (large) and Buitreraptor gonzalezorum
(small), Field Museum of Natural History| Matthew & Brown, 1922
Matthew & Brown, 1922 Matthew & Brown, 1922 Ornithodesmidae
Hooley, 1913 Dromaeosauridae is a family of bird-like theropod
dinosaurs. They were small- to medium-sized feathered carnivores
that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name
Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek dromeus
(δρομευς) meaning 'runner' and sauros (σαυρος) meaning 'lizard'.
In informal usage they are often called raptors (after
Velociraptor), a term popularized by the film Jurassic Park; a
few types include the term "raptor" directly in their name and
have come to emphasize their supposed bird-like habits.
Dromaeosaurid fossils have been found in North America, Europe,
Africa, Japan, China, Mongolia, Madagascar, Argentina, and
Antarctica. They first appeared in the mid-Jurassic Period (late
Bathonian stage, about 164 million years ago)