Velociraptor mongoliensis

 

Velociraptor mongoliensis (Osborn, 1924)

Dinosauria
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Maniraptora
Paraves
Dromaeosauridae (Raptors) 

Velociraptorinae 

Campanian (Late Cretaceous)
Djadochta Formation 
Mongolia 

Length: 2 m

The Fighting Dinosaurs fossil specimen shows a Velociraptor engaged in combat with a Protoceratops, showing that these two animals once fought one another. 

Sunday, October 20th, 2024

Deinonychus antirrhopus

 
Deinonychus antirrhopus (Ostrom, 1969)

Dinosauria
Theropoda
Tetanurae
Coelurosauria
Maniraptora
Paraves 
Dromaeosauridae (Raptors) 

Aptian to Albian (Early Cretaceous) 
Cloverly Formation, Antlers Formation 
Western United States 

Length: 3.5 m 

Deinonychus is the archetypal raptor and the actual animal that the Jurassic Park raptors are based upon. Its discovery marked the start of the Dinosaur Renaissance, when dinosaurs were first seen by scientific consensus as active, bird-like animals rather than sluggish, lizard-like animals. 

Sunday, May 19th, 2024 

Utahraptor ostrommaysi

 

Utahraptor ostrommaysi (Kirkland, Gaston, and Burge, 1993) 
Dinosauria 
Theropoda 
Tetanurae 
Coelurosauria 
Maniraptora 
Paraves 
Dromaeosauridae (Raptors) 

Dromaeosaurinae 

Valanginian to Hauterivian (Early Cretaceous) 
Cedar Mountain Formation 
Utah, United States 

Length: 5 - 5.5 m 

The largest known dromaeosaurs (raptor), Utahraptor differs from the typical raptor build with proportionally shorter limbs, a proportionally shorter tail, and a big, blocky head with forward-tilting teeth at the tip of the lower jaw. 

Sunday, October 8th, 2023 

Dakotaraptor steini

Dakotaraptor steini (DePalma et al., 2015) 

Dinosauria 

Theropoda 

Tetanurae 

Coelurosauria 

Maniraptora 

Paraves 

Dromaeosauridae (Raptors) 

Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) 

Hell Creek Formation 

South Dakota, United States 

Length: 4.5 - 6 m 

If valid*, despite being one of the largest known dromaeosaurs (raptors), Dakotaraptor retains the relatively agile build of smaller dromaeosaurs like Deinonychus rather than the stocky build of similarly sized dromaeosaurs like Utahraptor. 

* Note: Dakotaraptor's taxonomic validity is currently uncertain and may represent a chimaera. 

Sunday, January 8th, 2023 

Pteranodon longiceps (Male)

 

Pteranodon longiceps (Marsh, 1876) 

Pterosauria 

Pterodactyloidea 

Pteranodontoidea 

Pteranodontia 

Pteranodontidae 

Santonian (Late Cretaceous) 

Niobrara Formation, Pierre Shale 

Western Canada, Western United States 

Wingspan: 6.5 m 

Pteranodon was once thought of as a strictly aerial animal, too clumsy to walk much on land and too fragile to dip more than his beak into the water to catch fish. Modern analysis shows that Pteranodon was more than capable of both terrestrial locomotion and diving to catch fish. Distinct variation in pelvis shapes shows that this genus was high sexually dimorphic, with males being twice the size of females and sporting large crests. 

Tuesday, July 19th, 2022 

Stegosaurus stenops

 

Stegosaurus stenops (Marsh, 1887)
Dinosauria
Ornithischia
Thyreophora
Stegosauria
Stegosauridae

Kimmeridgian to Tithonian (Late Jurassic)
Morrison Formation
United States (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming), Portugal?

Length: 7 m (up to 9 m?)

The 2014 reveal of the more complete "Sophie" specimen of Stegosaurus showed that this genus of dinosaur had a proportionally longer leg and less hunched back than previously thought, giving it a profile more similar to that of its relatives.

Monday, February 28th, 2022 

Triceratops prorsus

 

Triceratops prorsus (Marsh, 1890) 
Dinosauria 
Ornithischia 
Cerapoda 
Marginocephalia 
Ceratopsia 
Ceratopsidae 
Chasmosaurinae 
Triceratopsini 

Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) 
Denver, Evanston, Hell Creek, Lance, Laramie, Scollard Formations 
Western Canada and United States 

Length: 9 m 

Exquisitely preserved skin impressions from the "Lane" specimen of Triceratops show that Triceratops was a lot spikier than previously thought. 

Monday, August 23rd, 2021