Velociraptor

The Velociraptor was a very fast moving biped dinosaur.

It was a meat eater, who could, according to scientists, outrun anything it came near.

The Velociraptor had over eighty very thin and sharp curved teeth, which were well over an inch long.

Velociraptor

Its neck was shaped like an s, curved forward and the arms ended in huge claws on each of its three fingers.

Velociraptor could probably run about forty miles an hour for short bursts of time.

It was about 3 feet tall and probably about six feet long, with a smaller head, of about 7 inches long.

Its long and very stiff tail made to balance the Velociraptor helped it to be able to turn nearly on a dime, so that it could swoop in and grab its prey no matter which way the prey ran.
They had on one toe, a very long curved claw that was retractable, which was the main weapon for killing.

This nail was easily able to disembowel some of the smaller dinosaurs with a single swipe, so that this dino didn’t miss many meals.

Velociraptor in comparison to many of the other dinosaurs had a very large brain in comparison to the rest of its body size so scientists surmise that it was well able to not only outrun the others, but also to outwit them and to reason what to do to be able to beat them.

Velociraptor lived during what we know as the Cretaceous period, the latter portion of it. Which were about 85 – 80 million years ago.

Velociraptor lived in a hot, dry environment – very much like our desert, that would have had some creeks and streams to enable it to easily find a drink and to ambush those who came to drink there.

In 1971, fossils of a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops were found together. They died together; the Velociraptor was attacking the Protoceratops with its claws and the armored head of the Protoceratops had apparently pierced the chest of the Velociraptor.

Velociraptor Scale

“Velociraptor, along with the other Dromaeosaurids, were the smartest dinosaurs, as calculated from their brain: body weight ratio. This made them very deadly predators. Velociraptor may have hunted in packs, perhaps attacking even very large animals.”

Velociraptor means: Speedy thief.
Pronounced: vuh-LOSS-ih-RAP-tor.
Named By: Henry F. Osborn.
When Named: 1924.
DIET: Carnivore (meat-eater).
SIZE: Length – 5 to 6 feet (1.5-2 m) long.
Height: 3 ft (1 m) tall at the hips.
Weight: 15 to 33 pounds (7 to 15 kg).
WHEN IT LIVED: 85 – 80 million years ago.

Find out more about the Velociraptor over at Wikipedia »