Dromaeosaurinae is a subfamily of the Dromaeosauridae. Most dromaeosaurines lived in what is now the United States, Canada, Mongolia, and possibly the country of Denmark as well. Isolated teeth that may belong to African dromaeosaurines have also been discovered in Ethiopia. These teeth date to the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic Period.
Almost all North American and Asian dromaeosaurine dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous were generally small, no more than 2 meters (6 ft) long, such as Dromaeosaurus, Atrociraptor and Adasaurus. However, among the dromaeosaurines were the largest dromaeosaurs ever; Dakotaraptor was ~5.5 metres (18 ft) long, Achillobator 6 metres (20 ft), and Utahraptor, measuring up to ~6-7 metres (20-23 ft).
Classification[]
Dromaeosaurines are distinguishable from other dromaeosaurids in having stouter, box-shaped skulls, as opposed to the other subfamilies within the Eudromaeosauria, which generally have narrower snouts. Dromaeosaurines are generally more heavily built, than the other members of their family, with thick, heavy-set legs, which were designed more for strength, rather than for speed. Most genera in the family seemed to use their jaws more than their claws for dispatching prey. Of these, a few, such as Dakotaraptor, Utahraptor and Achillobator may have been exceptions to this rule as their claws were quite large.
Also, dromaeosaurines are distinguished from velociraptorines, in having a low DSDI ratio; i.e., their teeth have equal-sized serrations, on both the posterior and on the anterior edges. By contrast, velociraptorines often have larger serrations on the posterior side of the tooth, than the anterior, or no serrations on the anterior side at all.
Most dromaeosaurines lived during the Cretaceous period, from the Barremian to the Maastrichtian stages. However, as stated previously, at least one unknown taxon seems to have lived much earlier, during the Jurassic Period.
Below is a list of species listed within the Dromaeosaurinae: