HOME | DD

Description
The chase is on: a juvenile Tyrannosaurus of about 4 years old picked a lonely Thescelosaurus as prey. They're about the same size, about four meters long.
The young carnivore is build for speed and it doesn't take long before the distance between it and its prey is crossed. Ready to take the Thescelosaurus down the little rex opens its mouth, but when it does this it notices something coming in from the right at a high speed. Before it realises what is happening, the Thescelosaurus gets hit in the side by something large and heavy, thrown against the Tyrannosaurus, causing the two dinosaurs to fall on the ground. A scared roar escapes the juvenile's mouth when its prey rolls over it with another predator pinning it to the ground: a Dakotaraptor.
The Thescelosaurus trashes around, trying to kick the large dromaeosaurid from its body, but to no avail: with its wings and long tail it keeps its balance. The little Tyrannosaurus trashes around too and from the moment the weight of the ornithopod slides from its body, it gets up and sprints away from the scene. It's happy with the thought the Dakotaraptor didn't pick him.

So, in case you hadn't heard: Hell Creek has a new predator.

Dakotaraptor steini is a large dromaeosaurine the size of Utahraptor. It's 5,5 meters long and stands about as tall as a man, but lacks the typical body plan of its relative though. Dakotaraptor looks more like a Deinonychus, making it more build for speed.
What's also remarkable is that its fossil preserved large quill knobs on its ulna, proving that this large animal had wings and was completely feathered just as smaller dromaeosaurids like Velociraptor or Microraptor. Not that it could fly though, but it could've used these wings to maintain balance while pinning prey to the ground like nowaday's hawks and eagles do.
Of course there's the sickle claw too, which was preserved in the fossil. It was about 24 cm long. Enormous.
Also worth noting is that this animal lived together with Tyrannosaurus rex, finally filling in the niche of mid-sized carnivore of the ecosystem where it preyed on small to mid-sized animals and dinosaurs, like Acheroraptor and juvenile dinosaurs such as Edmontosaurus or even Tyrannosaurus.

Description
The chase is on: a juvenile Tyrannosaurus of about 4 years old picked a lonely Thescelosaurus as prey. They're about the same size, about four meters long.
The young carnivore is build for speed and it doesn't take long before the distance between it and its prey is crossed. Ready to take the Thescelosaurus down the little rex opens its mouth, but when it does this it notices something coming in from the right at a high speed. Before it realises what is happening, the Thescelosaurus gets hit in the side by something large and heavy, thrown against the Tyrannosaurus, causing the two dinosaurs to fall on the ground. A scared roar escapes the juvenile's mouth when its prey rolls over it with another predator pinning it to the ground: a Dakotaraptor.
The Thescelosaurus trashes around, trying to kick the large dromaeosaurid from its body, but to no avail: with its wings and long tail it keeps its balance. The little Tyrannosaurus trashes around too and from the moment the weight of the ornithopod slides from its body, it gets up and sprints away from the scene. It's happy with the thought the Dakotaraptor didn't pick him.

So, in case you hadn't heard: Hell Creek has a new predator.

Dakotaraptor steini is a large dromaeosaurine the size of Utahraptor. It's 5,5 meters long and stands about as tall as a man, but lacks the typical body plan of its relative though. Dakotaraptor looks more like a Deinonychus, making it more build for speed.
What's also remarkable is that its fossil preserved large quill knobs on its ulna, proving that this large animal had wings and was completely feathered just as smaller dromaeosaurids like Velociraptor or Microraptor. Not that it could fly though, but it could've used these wings to maintain balance while pinning prey to the ground like nowaday's hawks and eagles do.
Of course there's the sickle claw too, which was preserved in the fossil. It was about 24 cm long. Enormous.
Also worth noting is that this animal lived together with Tyrannosaurus rex, finally filling in the niche of mid-sized carnivore of the ecosystem where it preyed on small to mid-sized animals and dinosaurs, like Acheroraptor and juvenile dinosaurs such as Edmontosaurus or even Tyrannosaurus.