See My Chariot, Run To Your Ships -

- I know those hat tips to Manowar have long ceased being original. Yet nonetheless here it its, Achillobator giganticus, much-improved over my previous rendition, I think. And if Durbed could turn that thing into something beautiful, this one should have some potential.

I really like Achillobator, and until or unless Scott Hartman comes up with his revamped Utahraptor skeletal reconstruction, this thing is the most badass dromaeosaurid to me. A derived dromaeosaurine that went a long phylogenetic distance to get itself rid of so many sophisticated avian features we wonder at in so many of its relatives, this one is just big, robust, and intimidating. And it's my first when it comes to the new-school wing layout for non-pygostylian paravians that Longrich et al. and Xu recently showed.

Be sure to check out Durbed's awesome colorized version!

Refs: Skeletal by Jaime Headden, skull tweaked to make it closer to other dromaeosaurines, including Scott Hartman's now-outdated Utahraptor reconstruction.