dromaeosaur

Everyday

1. A kind of small to medium meat-eating dinosaur with feathers and a big curved claw on each foot, like Velociraptor. tree →
2. A member of the dinosaur family Dromaeosauridae, known as «raptors». tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons about dinosaurs and evolution, dromaeosaurs show that birds are related to dinosaurs, because they had feathers; they appear in books, museums and films (as «raptors»); phrases: «feathered dromaeosaur», «dromaeosaur claw».

Examples

• Velociraptor was a dromaeosaur about the size of a turkey. tree →
• Dromaeosaurs had feathers like birds. tree →
• The museum showed a dromaeosaur's curved toe claw. tree →
• Scientists think dromaeosaurs were fast and clever hunters. tree →
• Microraptor was a tiny dromaeosaur with four wings. tree →
• Dromaeosaur fossils have been found in Mongolia and North America. tree →

Note

Pronounced DROH-mee-oh-sore. Name means «running lizard». Trap: real Velociraptors were much smaller than in the films and had feathers. Plural: dromaeosaurs.