Dryptosaurus

Dryptosaurus was a basal tyrannosauroid theropod that inhabited eastern North America right at the end of the Cretaceous period, roughly 67 million years ago. Originally named Laelaps by Edward Drinker Cope before being renamed by O. C. Marsh due to a preoccupied name, it was one of the first predatory dinosaurs discovered in the United States. Dryptosaurus was approximately seven metres long and weighed roughly one and a half tonnes. Unlike later western tyrannosaurids that possessed diminutive two-fingered arms, Dryptosaurus retained relatively flexible forelimbs armed with massive, eagle-like claws used for slashing and gripping prey.

Famed for an 1897 Charles R. Knight painting depicting it leaping in dynamic combat.

Where and when

Dryptosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 68 to 66 million years ago (Maastrichtian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Hornerstown Formation.

The numbers

Length 7 m (estimates run from 6.5 to 7.5 m). Mass about 1.5 t. Hip height about 2 m. That is 4.1 human-lengths, or 0.63 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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