VELOCIRAPTOR
Velociraptor mongoliensis
Meaning: "Swift Thief"
📊 STATS
Size comparison:
About the size of a large turkey or a medium-sized dog.
📖 ABOUT VELOCIRAPTOR
Meet Velociraptor, the 'swift thief'! This speedy dinosaur was a clever hunter, using its sharp claws and teeth to catch its prey in ancient Mongolia.
Velociraptor, whose name means 'swift thief,' was a fascinating dinosaur that lived around 75 million years ago in what is now Mongolia and China. Although often depicted as larger in movies, the real Velociraptor was about the size of a large turkey! They belonged to a group of dinosaurs called dromaeosaurids, known for their intelligence and agility.
These dinosaurs were carnivores, meaning they ate meat. Scientists believe they hunted small animals like lizards, mammals, and even other smaller dinosaurs. One of Velociraptor's most distinctive features was a large, sickle-shaped claw on each foot. This claw was likely used to slash at prey or to help grip onto larger animals while hunting.
Velociraptors were also likely covered in feathers! Fossil evidence suggests that they had feathers on their arms, which might have been used for display or even for short bursts of gliding. They walked on two legs (bipedal) and were very fast, reaching speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour – that's faster than most people can run!
🔬 CLASSIFICATION
- Group
- Theropoda
- Family
- Dromaeosauridae
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (100-66 Ma)
- Era
- 75.0 - 71.0 million years ago
🗺️ DISCOVERY
- Year
- 1923
- Discovered by
- Peter Kaisen
- Location
- Gobi Desert, Mongolia
- Fossils found in
- Mongolia, China
🎨 SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATION
Artistic reconstruction of Velociraptor based on fossil evidence
🗺️ WHERE FOSSILS WERE FOUND
Mongolia, China
🤓 FUN FACTS
- ✨ Velociraptors weren't as big as they're shown in movies! They were actually about the size of a turkey.
- ✨ They had a special, retractable claw on each foot that they used like a super-sharp weapon!
- ✨ Scientists believe Velociraptors had feathers, just like birds!
- ✨ Velociraptor's name means 'swift thief' because they were fast and clever hunters.
- ✨ Fossils show that Velociraptors sometimes fought Protoceratops, another dinosaur, and got stuck together!
💡 DID YOU KNOW?
Get this: Scientists found a Velociraptor fossil locked in combat with a Protoceratops! It’s like a dinosaur time capsule showing us exactly how these creatures fought.
