Dinosaur
Hesperonychus
Hesperonychus shows that the raptor world had tiny members too.
Hesperonychus shows that the raptor world had tiny members too. It was very small for a dromaeosaurid, the family that includes Velociraptor. Comparisons with its relatives suggest a light body, a long tail and feathers, although the known remains are far less complete than a finished illustration.
Three stages. One companion.
Game artwork
AI-generated, stylized game illustrations. These designs and growth stages are imaginative, not scientific reconstructions.
Hesperonychus at a glance
- Diet
- Probably carnivorous
- Its anatomy and relatives suggest that it probably ate other animals.
- When it lived
- Cretaceous
- Group
- Dromaeosauridae
- Dromaeosaurids
- Fossil locations
- Alberta
- Places where fossils have been found
Beyond the game
The real Hesperonychus
The fossils were found in Alberta, Canada. Some of the material went unrecognized as a distinct genus for years, until study showed that it belonged to a small predator.
Tiny animals can be underrepresented because their bones are fragile and hard to find. Hesperonychus reminds us that the ecosystems of great dinosaurs also included small predators, even if they left fewer spectacular museum specimens.
Tiny animals can be underrepresented because their bones are fragile and hard to find. Hesperonychus reminds us that the ecosystems of great dinosaurs also included small predators, even if they left fewer spectacular museum specimens.
Fossil discoveries
Selected fossil records · present-day map
Map references
Map: Natural Earth, public domain. Fossil records: linked collections and publications.Sources & text credits
Explore the references behind this profile.
- Hesperonychus
Wikipedia contributors · English source
Educational text adapted and translated from this article by Wikipedia contributors. The revision link, when captured in the source catalogue, identifies the source version.
Educational text adapted in English from the existing Wikipedia-backed Dinosgacha catalogue and linked articles by Wikipedia contributors.
Existing English translations have been selected and arranged for this encyclopedia. Repeated period and diet text is omitted where those fields already carry it. Unknown facts remain unfilled; unreviewed geological age phrases are omitted and period labels replace numerical ages.
The adapted educational text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. This text license does not apply to the game illustrations.