A remarkable Deltadromeus Agilis [Delta Runner] claw measuring 58mm of the enigmatic dinosaur discovered from the region in Western Saharan Desert, the scarcity of discoveries of this genus type to date has not revealed a full or near-complete skeleton let alone with a skull.

With the archetypical curved killing claw with exquisite preservation overall. In the dinosaurs lifetime, the claw would have been covered with a keratinised cuticle or stratum corneum sheathing. The fine manual ungual (forefoot claw), discovered in the continental intercalaire.

Condition; The dinosaur claw is a very fine example, a none fragile and not crumbly example which can often be the case which then requires much-stabilised conservation work with preservatory mediums. The claw is complete and whole. Distally the claw has lost its smooth appearance due to the rigours of fossilisation and erosion. proximally the claw appears to still have over the bone tissue a semblance of the petrified and fossilised keratinised cuticle material which the claws would have had in life. Overall a unique and very interesting fossilised carnivore killing ungual with the excellent morphology of parietal radial ridges, Palmer flange and curved nerve claw groove ledge dorsal and ventrally. The claw has not suffered any crushing during fossilisation and is of slim three-dimensional proportions.

Claws are far less common discoveries than that of the teeth of dinosaurs, thousands of teeth are discovered from this location, many types and qualities of preservation including mostly damaged or partial teeth. Among these thousands, over the last decade, very few claws have been discovered and good raptor claws are even rarer than other reptilian types. On a topical note, while the popularity of the Jurassic Park films led to the common use of the name raptor for this taxon of the dinosaur, the name does not have any academic taxonomic validity.

The archetypical menacing claw and a signature of the evolution of this particular dinosaur genus type, with up to 100,000,000 million years of lineage refining the structure and natural design of this remarkable killing ungual, quite truly something extremely special!

SPEC
Order: Saurischia.
Family: Neovenatoridae.
Genus: Deltadromeus Agilis [Delta Runner].
Age: Cretaceous, Cenomanian-Turonian, 100,000,000 - 89,000,000 years.
Origin: Continental Intercalaire, S.E.Morocco.

SIZE
L: 5.8 CM - Mesial curvature
L: 5.0 CM - Direct Root to tip
H: 1.55 CM
W: 0.95 CM
Weight: 0.005 G

DELTA RUNNER. 8M / 26.24FT LONG
HOMO SAPIEN. 1.8M / 6FT