Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosauridae is a family of small to medium-sized feathered coelurosaurian theropod dinosaurs, popularly known as "raptors" after Velociraptor. They were agile, bird-like carnivores that ranged from animals around 1.5 to 2 meters long, such as Velociraptor, up to giants approaching or exceeding 6 meters, such as Utahraptor and Achillobator. The group flourished mainly in the Cretaceous, with definitive fossils known from North America, Europe, and Asia, and survived until the mass extinction at the end of that period. Its members span several subgroups: the basal, possibly semiaquatic Halszkaraptorinae, the enigmatic and flight-adapted Unenlagiinae, the small, often tree-dwelling Microraptoria, and the derived, stocky Eudromaeosauria, which includes ambush hunters such as Deinonychus and Velociraptor. Dromaeosaurids are among the closest known relatives of birds, and abundant fossils show they were extensively feathered, some even bearing well-developed wings on the forelimbs and, in a few forms, the hind limbs.