Deinonychus

The Deinonychus (often shortened to Deinony) is a fossil in.

In
"Ahem... Yes, you may not have heard of Deinonychus, but you may have heard of its cousin, the Velociraptor. Both were predators distinguished by their frighteningly huge toe claws. They also likely had feathers. The main difference between them? Size. Deinonychus was about seven feet tall and weighed 160 pounds. Little Velociraptor, on the other wing, was a compact two feet tall and weighed only about 33 pounds! I've heard that people meeting celebrities are often surprised at how short they are in person!"

Real-world information
Deinonychus, meaning "terrible claw," is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur with one described species, Deinonychus antirrhopus. This species, which could grow up to 3.4 metres (11 ft) long, 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. "Terrible claw" refers to the unusually large, sickle-shaped talon on the second toe of each hind foot.

Paleontologist John Ostrom's study of Deinonychus in the late 1960s revolutionized the way scientists thought about dinosaurs, leading to the "dinosaur renaissance" and igniting the debate on whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. Before this, the popular conception of dinosaurs had been one of plodding, reptilian giants. Ostrom noted the small body, sleek, horizontal posture, ratite-like spine, and especially the enlarged raptorial claws on the feet, which suggested an active, agile predator.