Dromaeosaurs are a family of bird-like theropod dinosaurs. They include the famous Velociraptor and Deinonychus. They were small to medium-sized feathered carnivores which flourished in the Cretaceous period.
They are often called raptors, a term popularized by the movie Jurassic Park. They were fast-running predators.
Dromaeosaurs had a world-wide distribution. They first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, 167 million years ago (mya). The larger types are not found before about 124 mya in the Lower Cretaceous, and are only found in the northern hemisphere. They survived until the end of the Cretaceous, 65.5 mya at the K/T extinction event.
The presence of dromaeosaurs in the Middle Jurassic is shown by isolated fossil teeth, though no dromaeosaurid body fossils have been found this early.