Deltadromeus agilis

"Agile delta runner"

LATE CRETACEOUS:  99 - 93 million years ago

Discovered and identified in 1995 in southeast Morocco, this predator was named for its amazingly delicate, long limbs and apparent high-speed mobility.  

Deltadromeus is a meat-eating dinosaur believed to be an early offshoot of the therapod line that led to the development of tyrannosaurs and raptors in North America.   

With the skeleton reconstructed, it is greater than 25 feet in length and is 8 feet high at the hip.  Estimated weight when the creature was alive is 3.5 to 4 tons.  Deltadromeus approaches the size of Tyrannosaurus yet, was a swift and agile hunter with a body profile and other characteristics similar to much smaller dromaeosaurs hence the nickname, "River Raptor".

Fossil crocodile teeth, turtle shell, crayfish, petrified wood and many dinosaur footprints were found near the sites of the skeleton.  This is evidence that the now scorching Sahara Desert was once a vast flood plain laced with rivers edged by coniferous trees.  Crocodiles and turtles swam the rivers and predatory dinosaurs including Deltadromeus, ran through the mud leaving dozens of three-toed tracks that can now be found in the fossilized sedimentary rock in that region.

Remains of Deltadromeus agilis have only been found in Morocco and are extremely RARE.

WARNING:  MANY DEALERS ARE CURRENTLY SELLING SMALL (1" AND UNDER) UNIDENTIFIED DROMAEOSAUR TEETH OF MUCH LESSER VALUE AS DELTADROMEUS AGILIS TEETH.  NOT ONLY ARE THESE MISLABELED TEETH OF AN INCORRECT SIZE, THEY ARE ALSO INCORRECT IN THEIR DESIGN PROFILE FOR THIS TYPE OF DINOSAUR RULING THEM OUT EVEN AS "JUVENILE TEETH" AS ONE DEALER MISREPRESENTS THEM.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PALEONTOLOGIST TO UNDERSTAND THAT A 25 FOOT MEAT-EATING THERAPOD THE SIZE OF A JUVENILE T. REX DID NOT HAVE TEETH SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN A DIME!  

Special thanks to artist MINEO SHIRAISHI, for the use of his work shown in this section.