A Velociraptor was a small yet mighty predator of the Gobi Desert. It lived during the late Cretaceous period and hunted down its prey with quick speeds and powerful claws. And while the movies portray them as large pack hunters, they were actually about the size of a big chicken!
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Some Quick Facts About the Velociraptor
| Name | Velociraptor mongoliensis, “swift thief” |
| Type of dinosaur | Theropod |
| Territory | Gobi Desert, Central and eastern Asia |
| Size | Small, 6 feet long, 2 feet tall, 40 pounds |
| Color | Mostly brown |
| Interesting Characteristics | Had long feathers, but they could not fly. Their deadly middle claw was three inches long. |
| Diet | Smaller mammals, lizards, smaller herbivore dinosaurs |
| Major Threats | Natural disasters, larger predators |
The Velociraptor was a small theropod dinosaur that lived in the deserts of Mongolia almost 75 million years ago. As a late Cretaceous dinosaur, it went extinct due to the great extinction even 65 million years ago.
What Kind of Animal Was the Velociraptor?
The ferocious Velociraptor was species of dromaeosaur closely related to the Deinonychus of North America. It lived in the Late Cretaceous period. Paleontologists uncovered Velociraptor fossils in the warm, dry climates of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and other parts of Asia in China.
This theropod dinosaur walked on two legs with a long tail used as a tripod when hunting and had much in common with the T-Rex, only smaller. What’s interesting about the Velociraptors is that paleontologists discovered quill knobs, which proves that this dinosaur had long feathers like modern birds.
What was the Velociraptor like?
It was a mean, ferocious dino with sickled-shaped claws that it used to rip into smaller prey like baby dinosaurs or dinosaur eggs. It has a mouth full of incredibly sharp teeth and a long dagger on its second toe that it used as a season.
Its toe claws were for hunting and fighting off larger dinosaurs. In the late Cretaceous period, dinos became colossal giants, like the Triceratops, so the smaller Velociraptor needed plenty of defenses to ensure its survival.
What Did Velociraptors Eat?
Velociraptors were scary carnivore dinos that ate smaller reptiles, mammals, and even baby dinosaurs. While they were excellent hunters, they weren’t quite big enough to take down larger dinos in the sand dunes of the Gobi Desert.
Sometimes, Veliciparors scavenged larger dinosaurs that lost a battle with other fighting dinosaurs that were left behind.
Fossil remains uncovered in the Gobi desert tell a tale of a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops engaged in a dino battle. While in mid-fight, they were trapped in a sandstorm in inner Mongolia and died almost instantly.
It was bad news for the dinos but good news for paleontology. The collapsed dune preserved their behavior mid-battle, which told us so much about these dinos’ lives and battle behaviors.
Were Jurassic Park Velociraptors Real?
Jurassic Park and Jurassic World got a lot of things wrong about the Velociraptor. The dinos featured in the film resembled the Deinonychus rather than Velociraptors. Velociraptors were much smaller than depicted in the movie and did not hunt in packs.
Velociraptors were lone wolfs of the Gobi Desert and often traveled alone, similar to crocodiles. It’s also important to note that Velociraptors didn’t even live in the Jurassic period! They didn’t show up until the late Cretaceous period.
What Would Happen if a Velociraptor Found a Human?
The size of a Velociraptor is about the same as a coyote. A full-size adult may be able to scare it off, and it would search for a small, easier mid-morning snack. However, if the Velicirptor decided to strike, its sharp teeth, fast speeds, and razor-sharp could do some real damage. Luckily, we don’t have to worry about Velociraptors on our walks in the park!
5 Fun Facts About The Velociraptor
1. Velociraptors are related to modern-day birds, unlike Microraptors. Paleontology discovered quill knobs on the fossils of Velociraptors, which led them to believe that they were covered in feathers.
2. They were smaller than you think. The Jurassic Park movies depict Velociraptors as large predators, but many were about the size of a giant chicken.
3. They weren’t so clever. No, a Velociraptor could never learn how to open a door. While the Jurassic Park movies portrayed the Velociraptor as a clever girl, they were about as smart as a chicken. The winner of the smartest dino belongs to the Troodon, not the Velociraptor.
4. The Velociraptor and the Proceratops were not friends. The Protoceratops was about as big as a pig, and surprisingly the chicken-sized Velociraptor was mean enough to take the Protoceratops down. Many paleontologists believe that the Protoceratops were the Velociraptors’ favorite meal!
5. They did not hunt in packs. When paleontologists uncover new Velociraptor specimens, they are always entirely alone. The Jurassic Parks movies describe the Velociraptors as pack hunters, but they were lone wolves.