Least scary "raptor" ever, - ooor?
I realize that the shadowing on the stretching raptor is kindov shab, so the whole thing looks a bit flat.
My first take on one of my very favorite dinosaurs in over a decade, Deinonychus antirrhopus, with its head based on recent studies (the exact shape has changed numerous times, despite the fact that no new skull material is known. It's all about how the fragments are interpreted)
Wing-feathers confirmed in close relative Velociraptor, and were most likely for display, rather than anything to do with flight or gliding.
Possibility of tail-fan, but I ommited it, since Deinonychus had a highly specialized and stiffened tail, intended for balance when running and leaping.
Wings did not include wing feathers above the elbow, which gives the wing a bit of a "unfinished" feel.
Although it looks 2 fingered at first glance, it has a 3rd finger hidden underneath the wing-feathers.
About the size of a large wolf, or small tiger, and absolutely not to be messed with, since they are confirmed hunters of Tenontosaurus, an animal the size of a very beefy horse.
"Angry" looking "eagle eyes" are also highly possible, after a reinterpretation of the function of a "lacrimal horn" right in front of the eyesocket.
Oh, and the tooth-covering lips are still a matter of debate, where consensus rests on the existence of lips, since most advanced tetrapods do indeed close their mouth fully, and cover their teeth with fleshy lips. Minute holes alongside jaws of most dinosaurs support this.
Gregory Paul (a prominent hobby-paleodude with a huge clue) has proposed a small beak-tip at the very snout of the jaw, but I'm not entirely sold on this.
The ankle-wings are found both as fully developed gliding-wings in Microraptor as well as smaller, display-wings in Anchiornis, making it a likelyhood that varieties of these ankle-wings were common.
Oh, and known from North America (specifically the US, but would likely move freely about, right?
), from the Albian-Aptian age (early Cretaceous), about 110-115 million years ago. Evolutionary, it is possible that it descends from small, flying bird-like dinosaurs - and evolved to small (again) agile hunters such as Velociraptor. This explains why they have such developed wings - that are not for flying, they are essentially "secondary flightless", in a way chicken or ostrich are. Evolution does not consier a good narrative
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