Velociraptor

velociraptor (ve-loc-i-rap-tor) (swift seizer or thief) was a small carnivorous dinosaur, well known thanks to jurassic park. it was one of the smaller dromaeosaurs, smaller than utahraptor and deinonychus. it lived in mongolia and china during the late cretaceous, 75 to 71 million years ago

## General Description

the most amazing find in mongolia may be the discovery of the skeletons of the small theropod velociraptor (¨swift seizer¨) with its right arm clamped firmly in the beak of the small sheep-sized ceratopsian protoceratops. both were fighting when a sand dune collapsed, killing the two dinosaurs and preserving them in their death pose until 1971, when they were unearthed. another theory states they fatally injured each other.

In 1922, the first specimen of Velociraptor was found by the American Museum of Natural History. Like the famous death-pose specimen, it was found in the Late Triassic sandstones of the Djadokhta Formation in the Gobi Desert, and was also found lying alongside a skull of Protoceratops.

Velociraptor was a small theropod, with a large sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of its foot, it had a long, narrow snout, which is different from the other members of its family. The jaws were lined with serrated teeth for tearing flesh, it swallowed its food in gulps instead of chewing, like most theropods. The arms were long and it had strong chest and arm muscles, for grasping onto prey.

Since the death-pose specimen was found with a Protoceratops, it probably ate this small ceratopsian, but it may have hunted even larger prey. Its diet also included small animals, such as lizards. Another dromaeosaurid feature that can be clearly seen in the death-pose are the long pieces of bone along the sides of the bones of the tail to stiffen it. This allowed the tail to act as a balance when the animal walked and ran. The tail, however, was still flexible, expecially since it was attached to the hips. The complete "Struggle to the death" skeleton has not yet been described, but it will certainly reveal even more new and exciting facts about this fascinating genus.

Velociraptor was a small, dog-sized dinosaur that flourished in the mid-Cretaceous period. This dinosaur has become one of the most famous, due to its prominent role in the Jurassic Park movies.

## Jurassic Park Velociraptor vs the actual Velociraptor

Velociraptor was closely related to the North American Deinonychus. Not massive like Tyrannosaurus or Tarbosaurus, this smaller dinosaur was a fierce predator, being quick and agile, as is portrayed in the movie 'Jurassic Park'.

The Velociraptor in 'Jurassic Park' is 400% larger than the fossil record would indicate (standing 8–10 feet/2.43-3.048 meters tall and 4.25–6 meters long). It also resembles Deinonychus more than it does Velociraptor.

This would create the feeling that the characters where being chased constantly by something a little more scary and dangerous than a turkey sized dromaeosaur. The so-called raptor in the movie is more similar to a *Utahraptor*or*Deinonychus* in size. *Velociraptor* was roughly the size of a turkey.

The raptors in the 'Jurassic Park' series also lack feathers and are bigger; instead of feathers, they are given squamas on their backs. The reason for the differences may be the result of genetic splicing errors and the utilization of amphibian DNA to fill in the genetic code sequence gaps, as well as the fact that it was not widely known that non-avian dinosaurs had feathers at the time of the original films making.