Deinonychus, the "Terrible Claw,"
is a famous dinosaur that was at the
forefront of paleontologist John 
Ostrom's "dinosaur renaissance." 
Ostrom lead the charge in reforming
dinosaurs from slow, cold-blooded
lizards to the swift, warm-blooded 
birds we know today, effectively
revolutionizing dinosaur knowledge.
With a maximum length of three 
meters and height of about a meter, 
deinonychus was a strong creature
with a powerful body ready to 
attack. Like its fellow 
dromaeosaurids, it possessed a 
sickle-shaped claw on its second toe
and likely had feathers covering its 
entire body. 

Living during the early Cretaceous 
Period, deinonychus made its home in
North America's tropical climates. 
Deinonychus' limbs could grasp and 
clutch objects well. They may have
allowed for tree climbing, leading 
to possible arboreal behavior. The 
deinonychus hunted small- and 
medium-sized dinosaurs with a 
technique called "raptor prey 
restraint," in which it attacked 
prey, held it down, and ate it
alive. Deinonychus possibly also 
hunted in packs to attack larger 
prey like tenontosaurus. After a 
kill was made, the largest animals 
in the group would likely eat first
before the others were allowed, with 
violators of this rule being 
brutally attacked.
