[Nakasato Dinosaur Kingdom]
Velociraptor
Name: Velociraptor mongoliensis
Etymology: "swift robber"
Classification: Deinonychosauria, Dromaeosauridae
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Place/Formation: Tugrikin Shire (Southern Mongolia)
Length: 1.5m
Dromaeosaurids are formidable predators. They are characterized by;
  • relatively large skull for its body size,
  • front-oriented orbital which would have provided the animals stereoscopic vision,
  • the sharp, serrated teeth,
  • relatively long arms,
  • slender legs which would have allowed them to run fast,
  • long stiff tail which might have functioned as a stabilizer.
[Picture: Velociraptor Skull] The most striking feature of this group, however, is an enlarged second toe with an oversized scythe-like claw. The sickle claws would have been kept raised off the ground during normal walking or running in order to minimize abrasion or damage on the claw. These animals would have used the claws for both defending themselves from enemies and attacking their preys.

Velociraptor mongoliensis is the first Asian dromaeosaurid discovered in the 1920s. As its close relatives are found in North America, V. mongoliensis from Central Asia suggested that the similar environment was extended between the two continents in the Late Cretaceous.

Velociraptor was featured in the blockbuster movie "Jurassic Park". A number of errors in the movie have been pointed out, and the most obvious one is that the velociraptors in the movie were too big. Also their tail moved too flexibly in the movie whereas the real one was greatly stiffened by reinforcement of ossified tendons.

Fighting Dinosaur | Saichania | Mononykus | Ingenia
Gallimimus | Garudimimus | Harpymimus | Homalocephale
Bagaceratops | Velociraptor | Saurornithoides | Dinosaur Eggs
Tarbosaurus

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