Location : NW U.S. and SW Canada

Dromaeosaurus was the original raptor. It was a small, vicious hunter that had a mouth full of serrated, razor-sharp teeth and a sharp, hooked claw on each foot that it used to clamp down on its victims.

When first discovered, Dromaeosaurus was hard to classify. It had such large foot bones that it was thought to be a much larger dinosaur. It had a large brain for its size, large eyes and grasping hands. Because of this, scientists thought that it was more than twice its actual size. It wasn't until almost 50 years after the discovery of the type specimen that it was formally classified into its own family. All the other raptor dinosaurs, such as Deinonychus  and Velociraptor  are members of the dromaeosaur family.