The skeleton is of a Deinonychus antirrhopus. This was a fast carnivore that hunted in groups and grabbed its prey with the bird-like claws on its hind legs. The beast also owes its scientific name to those claws: Deinonychus means ‘horrible claw’. In Jurassic Park (1993) the bloodthirsty fighters are called Velociraptors, because Michael Crichton, author of the book on which the film is based, thought it sounded more dramatic, writes The New York Times† Velociraptors, however, are much smaller than the monsters in Crichton’s story.
Thanks to Jurassic Park Deinonychus antirrhopus is one of the best-known dinosaurs, but as a fossil it is one of the rarest. The skeleton sold Thursday evening, named Hector, is the most complete ever found with 126 original bones, Christie’s reports. It belonged to a private collector. The auction house has not disclosed who the new owner of Hector is.