page_title: Velociraptor
section_title: Paleoecology
hierarchical_section_title: Velociraptor / Paleoecology
caption_attribution_description: English: Velociraptor mongoliensis skull Español: craneo fosil de Velociraptor mongoliensis
context_page_description: Velociraptor is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils of this species have been discovered in Mongolia. A second species, V. osmolskae, was named in 2008 for skull material from Inner Mongolia, China.
  Smaller than other dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus and Achillobator, Velociraptor nevertheless shared many of the same anatomical features. It was a bipedal, feathered carnivore with a long tail and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot, which is thought to have been used to tackle and disembowel prey. Velociraptor can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout.
  Velociraptor is one of the dinosaur genera most familiar to the general public due to its prominent role in the Jurassic Park motion picture series. In real life, however, Velociraptor was roughly the size of a turkey, considerably smaller than the approximately 2 m tall and 80 kg reptiles seen in the films.
context_section_description: All known specimens of Velociraptor mongoliensis were discovered in the Djadochta Formation (also spelled Djadokhta), in the Mongolian province of Ömnögovi. Species of Velociraptor have also been reported from the slightly younger Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia, though these are indeterminate and may belong to a related genus instead. These geologic formations are estimated to date back to the Campanian stage (between 83 and 70 million years ago) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch.
  V. mongoliensis has been found at many of the most famous and prolific Djadochta localities. The type specimen was discovered at the Flaming Cliffs site (also known as Bayn Dzak and Shabarakh Usu), while the "Fighting Dinosaurs" were found at the Tugrig locality (also known as Tugrugeen Shireh). The well-known Barun Goyot localities of Khulsan and Khermeen Tsav have also produced remains which may belong to Velociraptor or a related genus. Teeth and partial remains attributed to juvenile V. mongoliensis have also been reported from the Bayan Mandahu Formation, a prolific site in Inner Mongolia, China that is contemporaneous with the Djadochta Formation. However, these fossils had not been prepared or studied as of 2008. A partial adult skull from the Bayan Mandahu Formation has been assigned to a distinct species, Velociraptor osmolskae.
  All of the fossil sites that have yielded Velociraptor remains preserve an arid environment with fields of sand dunes and only intermittent streams, although the younger Barun Goyot environment seems to have been slightly wetter than the older Djadochta. The posture of some complete fossils, as well as the mode of preservation most show within structureless sandstone deposits, may show that a number of specimens were buried alive during sandstorm events common to the three environments.
  Many of the same genera were present across these formations, though they varied at the species level. For example, the Djadochta was inhabited by Velociraptor mongoliensis, Protoceratops andrewsi, and Pinacosaurus grangeri, while the Bayan Mandahu was home to Velociraptor osmolskae, Protoceratops hellenikorhinus, and Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus. These differences in species composition may be due a natural barrier separating the two formations, which are relatively close to each other geographically. However, given the lack of any known barrier which would cause the specific faunal compositions found in these areas, it is more likely that those differences indicate a slight time difference.
  Other dinosaurs known from the same locality as V. mongoliensis include the troodontid Saurornithoides mongoliensis, the oviraptorid Oviraptor philoceratops, and the dromaeosaurid Mahakala omnogovae. V. osmolskae lived alongside the ceratopsian species Magnirostris dodsoni, as well as the oviraptorid Machairasaurus leptonychus and the dromaeosaurid Linheraptor exquisitus.
caption: Undescribed V. mongoliensis skull
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