Eudromaeosauria

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Eudromaeosauria (/ˌjuːdrəʊˈmeɪːəʊˈsɔːri͡ə/; "true dromaeosaurs") is a subgroup of terrestrial dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaurs. They were small to large-sized predators that flourished during the Cretaceous Period. Eudromaeosaur fossils are known almost exclusively from the northern hemisphere. Eudromaeosaurs first appeared in the early Cretaceous Period and survived until the end of the Cretaceous (Maastrichtian stage, 66 Ma). The earliest known definitive eudromaeosaur is the probable dromaeosaurine Yurgovuchia, from the Cedar Mountain Formation, dated to 139 million years ago. However, the earlier (143-million-year-old) fossils such as those of Nuthetes and several indeterminate teeth dating to the Kimmeridgian stage may represent eudromaeosaurs. While other dromaeosaurids filled a variety of specialized ecological niches, mainly those of small predators or specialized piscivores, eudromaeosaurs functioned as hypercarnivores and are suggested to have been predators of medium- to large...

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