Re: eastern us dinos (2nd attempt)

[Thom Holmes <70621.2234@compuserve.com>]

On June 9, Considine, Blaise wrote:

--While the show was 
--about T rex, I wondered who the big predators of the eastern US were 
--during that time.

Dryptosaurus, originally named Laelaps by Cope in 1866, is a predatory 
dinosaur of medium size found in New Jersey. Cope himself pictured it as an 
active predator, providing Charles Knight with the image of the leaping 
Laelaps which he painted around 1897. It is only known from fragmentary 
evidence, but as far as New Jersey finds go, it is probably the second most 
complete dinosaur specimen found in NJ after Hadrosaurus. Both were found in 
greensand deposits, a clay-like deposit dating from the late Cretaceous when 
Southern New Jersey was an inner coastal plain. Dryptosaurus had a sizable 
allosaur-like claw. The original specimen (along with a Charles Knight 
sculpture of the leaping dino) is in the collection of the Academy of Natural 
Sciences in Phila. Other specimens, mostly claws and teeth, are in the 
collection of the New Jersey State Museum. 

--Thom Holmes, Publications Director, The Dinosaur Society