Deinonychus

Concept art of Mark Crash McCreery for Jurassic Park of Deinonychus, which would ultimately be renamed to Velociraptor later in the film's production.

Deinonychus was the first of the raptors (technically called Dromaeosauridae) to be known from a nearly complete skeleton. Velociraptor had been discovered 40 years earlier but was known only from a skull and a few bones of its hands and feet.

The skeleton of Deinonychus were first to show the now infamous sickle-shaped retractable foot claw (8 inch), used for ripping open the skin of a victim, causing the preys guts be ripped and with a considerable amount of damage. Deinonychus also had a big bite, with over 60 knife-like teeth. Although with a deadly bite, its arms and legs would be most powerful and could rear on one leg and kick an opponent.

Dr. John Ostrom discovered Deinonychus in 1964. Dr. Ostrom believed that this dinosaur was an agile, swift predator, like a warm-blooded mammal, than a cold-blooded reptile.

Story

Deinonychus is seen on the Holoscape screen in the Innovation Center of Jurassic World, and also considered to be a species of Velociraptor.

Video Games

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Deinonychus appears as an enemy. It bears a resemblance to Velociraptor that appeared as well, and different in coloration. Oddly, it is smaller than Velociraptor, instead of being bigger. It is also called "Deinon-Raptor", likely to differentiate from Velociraptor.

Jurassic Park III: Park Builder

In Jurassic Park III: Park Builder, Deinonychus appears and can also be recreated from DNA.

Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis

In Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, Deinonychus was also intended but ultimately scrapped.

Jurassic World: Evolution

In Jurassic World: Evolution, Deinonychus appears as an attraction. It is portrayed with a rooster-like comb on its head, as well as a lizard-like ridge along its tail. Its skull is also shorter than that of Velociraptor, with large pronounced eye ridges.

Trivia

Deinonychus was also the primary basis for the novels' Velociraptor and in turn the raptors of the films. Michael Crichton visited John Ostrom, the discoverer of Deinonychus, when doing research for the novels. Ostrom said that Crichton's Velociraptor was primarily based upon Deinonychus in "almost every detail" and Crichton also called to inform him that he renamed Deinonychus in his novels to Velociraptor, because he felt it sounded "more dramatic". During the production of the films, Steven Spielberg's production contacted John Ostrom and requested copies of all the technical papers that Ostrom had done of Deinonychus. Unlike the novels, the raptors that were in the films were to be properly named Deinonychus, and Mark Crash McCreery made concept art in 1991. Later in pre-production, it was ultimately renamed to Velociraptor.