Who was the Fast Lizard?

The "Fast Lizard" was an early raptor dinosaur formally known as DROMAEOSAURUS ("Dromaeo" means
"fast" or "speedy" or "running", and "saurus" means lizard). Its full name is Dromaeosaurus Albertensis - so named as it was first discovered in Alberta, Canada in 1922). It lived during the late cretaceous period 72-76 million years ago. The Dromaeosaurus is part of a family of dinosaurs known as Dromaeosauridae.

The Fast Lizard was a carnivore and made use of speed to catch its prey. It stood about two feet tall and was six feet long. It had very large claws and hunted in groups. 

Research has shown that the dromeosaurus most likely was feathered. It is part of the family of raptors that eventually came to include the Velociraptors and is an important link between dinosaur and bird evolution.

This picture is the creative work of paleo-artist Todd Marshall.

The Dromaeosauridae family varies greatly in size. The Microraptor was a very small dinosuar, about two feet long and just over two lbs. It is the smallest known no-avian dinosaur.The Sinornithosaurus was about three feet long. The Dromaeosaurus Albertensis was six feet long. The Deinonychus antirrhopus was a mid sized raptor at eleven  feet long and 160 lbs in weight. The Achillobator was approximately twenty feet long; Utahraptor is estimated to have been twenty-three feet long and 1,100 lbs in weight but may have been up to thirty-six feet long and substantially heavier.

It was the discovery of the dromeosaurus sub-species Deinonychus antirrhopus that ignited the debate as to whether dinosaurs were cold or warm blooded and whether they were slow and plodding, or fast moving, reptiles.

You can learn more about the Dromaeosaurus aka "the Fast Lizard" at the following sites:

		Information from the National History Museum of London
		For kids of all ages: Enchanted Learning and KidsDinos
		Dromaeosaurus at Wikipedia and the Sinornithosaurus, a type of Dromaeosaur
		Complete Fossil and Artistic Illustration at Prehistorics Illustrated