Dromaeosauroides

Dromaeosauroides

Dromaeosauroides is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the Robbedale valley, on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. In life, Dromaeo would have been 2 to 3 metres in length, and weighed about 40 kilograms.

About Dromaeosauroides in brief

Summary DromaeosauroidesDromaeosauroides is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous. It was discovered in the Jydegaard Formation in the Robbedale valley, on the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It is the only likely place for dinosaur remains to be discovered on Danish territory, since the Mesozoic deposits exposed in the rest of the country are marine. The holotype tooth is 21. 7 millimetres long, and the second tooth is 15 millimetre. They are curved and finely serrated. In life, Dromaeo would have been 2 to 3 metres in length, and weighed about 40 kilograms. It lived in a coastal lagoon environment with sauropods, as evidenced by a possible titanosaur tooth. Some teeth from the United Kingdom that have been referred to the genus Nuthetes may also belong to this animal. Coprolites containing fish remains found in the Jydegaar Formation may belong to the dromaeosaurus. The genus name means ‘Dromaiosaur-like’, due to the similarity to the teeth of that genus. The specific name refers to Bornholm itself, as well as to the’swift’ running reptile. It would have had a large sickle claw on its feet like its relatives Dromaiosaurus and Deinonychus.

It seems to have been large, as such bones, such as hypsiloponts or hyguodon, might be found in future dinosaur remains. Because the bones of the dinosaurs were not larger, palaeontologists did not expect to find larger bones of dinosaurs in the formation, but were surprised to find a dromaosaur tooth instead, since these are rare in Early CRetaceous formations. The fossil project was formed by a group of unemployed people who received funding from Denmark and the EEC to maintain geological sites on Bornholm. During the 1990s, the Fossil Project sifted sand at these sites in cooperation with the NaturBornholm interpretation centre, which exhibited the fossils discovered. In September 2000, a geology student Eliza Jarl Estrup found a dinosaur tooth, the first dinosaur discovered in Denmark. The tooth was presented at the 45th annual meeting of the Palaeontological Association in 2001, and identified as a d romaeosaur. In 2003 the tooth was made the holotype specimen of Dromaedoides bornholmensis—named and described by Christiansen and Bonde.