(dyne-ON-ik-us)

This dinosaur was one of the most efficient hunters of them all. It belonged to the family Dromaeosaurid, or "running lizard." Terrifying flesh eaters like Tyrannosaurus would tear large dinosaur to pieces with their huge teeth and massive jaws. yet they could probably not move very fast.

One dinosaur that could was Deinonychus. This dinosaur was the largest in his family, which also included Dromaeosaurus and Velociraptor.

Deinonychus means "terrible claw." It was given this name because it had a sickle-shaped toe and claw on each foot. The other three toes on each foot were shorter. When running it would lift the claw up and put the outer toes to the ground. The toe with the big claw would be used to rip the bodies of other dinosaurs.

Balancing on one leg, it would slash viciously using strong muscles in its thigh. Its tail had long pieces of bone to make it stiff when running. Small arms and hands each had three clawed fingers. Deinonychus had a large head, good eyesight, and sharp teeth.