Long before the first “Jurassic Park” movie captured the public imagination, paleontologists had discovered the fossil of a swift, bird-like predator that would later serve as the prototype for the famous Velociraptor from the film franchise. Its name was Deinonychus antirrhopus. 

Now, one College of Science and Health student is studying a rare specimen from that dinosaur that could tell researchers more about its known distribution in Early Cretaceous period Texas. In this Q&A, biological sciences major Kaelin Reichmann discusses the significance of his research and how it can advance our understanding of extinct wildlife.

Tell us about your project. What do you hope to find?

Thanks to a generous partnership between my advisor Professor Kenshu Shimada at DePaul University and Ron Tykoski, PhD, at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas, I’ve been given the incredible opportunity to study and describe a partial humerus (upper arm bone) of the iconic meat-eating dinosaur Deinonychus. This medium-sized dromaeosaur (the so-called ‘raptor’ dinosaurs) lived roughly 115 million years ago in the United States, and is known from sparse fossils in Montana, Wyoming, and Oklahoma. This new specimen is special not only because it is one of fewer than a half-dozen humerus specimens of Deinonychus known, but also because it represents the first non-tooth fossil of this dinosaur found in Texas. I’m therefore working to confirm the identity of the specimen and describe it in detail, as well as describing some unique markings found on the bone surface and trying to explain their origin.

Why does studying this rare humerus bone matter to learning more about Deinonychus? What can it tell us about the dinosaur and related ‘raptor’ species?

The long limb bones like the humerus are some of the most heavily studied bones in land vertebrates, which are animals with backbones, because they can contain important information about how an animal lived and grew. For example, by comparing the size of this specimen to previously found humeri, we can tell that this individual was likely a sub-adult when it died and wasn’t fully done growing. 

Some people might remember that the Velociraptor of “Jurassic Park” fame was based on this particular dinosaur. What are some common misrepresentations of Deinonychus, and how might your research affect that?

The size of the Velociraptor depicted in “Jurassic Park” was famously exaggerated from the real Deinonychus to create a more menacing antagonist for the film, and the final design lacks the full-body feather coating that all ‘raptor’ dinosaurs likely had. In addition, the franchise has portrayed these dinosaurs as intelligent pack hunters with strong social bonds. Although some dinosaur species may have evolved complex social structures, fossil evidence of intense fights between Deinonychus makes ‘family packs’ depicted in the films less likely.

What do you most want people to know about this very cool, extinct animal?

Deinonychus represents an important milestone in the history of dinosaur paleontology. Its description marked the beginning of what’s sometimes called the ‘Dinosaur Renaissance,’ where the popular perception of dinosaurs began to shift from cold-blooded, slow-moving monsters to more bird-like, active animals with complex lives and behaviors. It is this fundamental complexity that I hope most people take away from learning about paleontology: i.e., organisms and ecosystems of the ancient past were just as complex and interesting as, if not more than, those found today.