Deinonychus

Deinonychus (/daɪˈnɒnɨkəs/ dy-non-i-kəs; Greek: δεινός, 'terrible' and ὄνυξ, genitive ὄνυχος 'claw') is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosauridceolurosaurian dinosaurs, 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, Wyoming, and Oklahoma, in rocks of the Cloverly Formation and Antlers Formation, though teeth that may belong to Deinonychus have been found much farther east in Maryland.