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Description

On a world where the K/Pg didn't happen as it does on our timeline, the major changes in climate and environment during the Cenozoic offered plenty of opportunity for many groups of theropods to take new niches, especially in terms of large predatory niches as during the late Paleogene and early Neogene with the cooling of Earth groups of mega-carnivores like tyrannosaurs perished, leaving a place for new carnivores to take the role. While Eurasia was conquered by the still prevalent abelisaurs and a new and unusual radiation of carnivorous pachicephalosaurs, in America an experiment of evolutionary radiation would begin which will cause the emergence of diverse predatory clades, from caenagnathids, troodontids and Dromaeosaurids, developing varied large forms, however, only one clade would win in the long term is the last one mentioned.

Over the course of millions of years since the beginning of the neogene, Dromaeosaurs would begin a trend of body growth, already surpassing the size of the biggest species, at the same time of a change in morphology including the reduction of arms, the curved claws of their feet and the modification of the head and neck, thus giving rise to an entirely new clade of large theropods, the Teratoraptors, appearing around 20 to 15 million years ago they became one of the most prolific groups of macro-predators during the isolation of North America being formidable prairie hunters and tundra, even being able to colonize Eurasia in great part of the neogene and compete with other predatory clades on the old world, although they became predominant as major carnivores until the Pleistocene, being quite prevalent in the polar territories for its ability to withstand cold environments thanks to its large coat.

This lineage is made up of two notable clades, the first ones are the Auxovenatora, which could be considered as the most basal, appear during the Oligocene, being mainly cursorial predators (although large species tend to have a much heavier shape), adapted to the meadows and of social habits able to congregate to hunt in packs. These still present some vestiges of their Dromaeosaurids predecessors, including a fluke, a half-developed curved claw and primaries on their arms. These are quite spread across the Arctic Circle, from Europe, crossing Asia and reaching their continent of North America origin, with some populations that colonized South America when the Isthmus bridge was formed.
The species sample is one of the largest hunt pack predators with 9 meters long, living in the pampas of South America, they are pretty much specialized in large animals such as sauropods and hadrosaurs.

The second group is more specialized for heavy prey with strong jaws, giving a convergence to the tyrannosaurs and which give the name to the clade itself, the Teratoraptora, the new crushing jaw theropods, they are more scattered around East Asia, with some species in North America, they thrive as hunters of heavy animals in tropical and temperate areas, being not so common in polar areas. They are characterized by having a robust head with long teeth, a short neck, smaller arms to the point of losing the primary characteristics, and with a more generic foot and similar to other theropods, with the curved claw completely absent. Unlike its more base relatives, most of these teratoraptorans are solitary in behavior, more dependent on ambush strategies with direct heavy fighting.
The species shown is a medium size predator inhabitant of the south east regions of Asia, characterized by its bare head, pale red with blue spots, contrasting with a brown plumage, also males are able to grow some small spiky keratinous structures around the snout.

Description

On a world where the K/Pg didn't happen as it does on our timeline, the major changes in climate and environment during the Cenozoic offered plenty of opportunity for many groups of theropods to take new niches, especially in terms of large predatory niches as during the late Paleogene and early Neogene with the cooling of Earth groups of mega-carnivores like tyrannosaurs perished, leaving a place for new carnivores to take the role. While Eurasia was conquered by the still prevalent abelisaurs and a new and unusual radiation of carnivorous pachicephalosaurs, in America an experiment of evolutionary radiation would begin which will cause the emergence of diverse predatory clades, from caenagnathids, troodontids and Dromaeosaurids, developing varied large forms, however, only one clade would win in the long term is the last one mentioned.

Over the course of millions of years since the beginning of the neogene, Dromaeosaurs would begin a trend of body growth, already surpassing the size of the biggest species, at the same time of a change in morphology including the reduction of arms, the curved claws of their feet and the modification of the head and neck, thus giving rise to an entirely new clade of large theropods, the Teratoraptors, appearing around 20 to 15 million years ago they became one of the most prolific groups of macro-predators during the isolation of North America being formidable prairie hunters and tundra, even being able to colonize Eurasia in great part of the neogene and compete with other predatory clades on the old world, although they became predominant as major carnivores until the Pleistocene, being quite prevalent in the polar territories for its ability to withstand cold environments thanks to its large coat.

This lineage is made up of two notable clades, the first ones are the Auxovenatora, which could be considered as the most basal, appear during the Oligocene, being mainly cursorial predators (although large species tend to have a much heavier shape), adapted to the meadows and of social habits able to congregate to hunt in packs. These still present some vestiges of their Dromaeosaurids predecessors, including a fluke, a half-developed curved claw and primaries on their arms. These are quite spread across the Arctic Circle, from Europe, crossing Asia and reaching their continent of North America origin, with some populations that colonized South America when the Isthmus bridge was formed.
The species sample is one of the largest hunt pack predators with 9 meters long, living in the pampas of South America, they are pretty much specialized in large animals such as sauropods and hadrosaurs.

The second group is more specialized for heavy prey with strong jaws, giving a convergence to the tyrannosaurs and which give the name to the clade itself, the Teratoraptora, the new crushing jaw theropods, they are more scattered around East Asia, with some species in North America, they thrive as hunters of heavy animals in tropical and temperate areas, being not so common in polar areas. They are characterized by having a robust head with long teeth, a short neck, smaller arms to the point of losing the primary characteristics, and with a more generic foot and similar to other theropods, with the curved claw completely absent. Unlike its more base relatives, most of these teratoraptorans are solitary in behavior, more dependent on ambush strategies with direct heavy fighting.
The species shown is a medium size predator inhabitant of the south east regions of Asia, characterized by its bare head, pale red with blue spots, contrasting with a brown plumage, also males are able to grow some small spiky keratinous structures around the snout.