Velociraptor without feathers
Velociraptor was one of the deadliest and the cleverest dinosaurs that ever lived. It hunted in packs and could bring down dinosaurs over twice its own size such as Protoceratops. It had a 12cm long claw on its foot, that could rip and tear flesh, as well as cling on to their prey. It lived approximately from 75 to 71 million years ago, during the later part of the Cretaceous Period.
Velociraptor with feathers
raptor killing its prey
Fact File
Height = 1.4m
Velociraptor(male) as seen in Jurassic Park III
Length = 2m
Weight = 20-40 kg
Diet = Carnivore, possibly egg eater
Prey
Alone, a Velociraptor could have killed and eaten animals like lizards and young or small dinosaurs. In a pack, Velociraptor may have hunted even larger prey such as Homocephale. It certainly did eat Protoceratops. This was an older relative of Triceratops, but it had much lesser developed horns (if any) and was about the size of a pig. They often fought each other, and Velociraptor did not always win! Velociraptor usually either stalked its prey or circled it as a pack and took turns to take chunks out of it.
In Popular Culture
The Velociraptor is among the dinosaurs that has appeared the most times, in the media. Velociraptors most famously appear in all of the Jurassic Park movies, as large, fast, intelligent animals. However, in this series, the Velociraptors are much too large, actually closer to the size of the much larger Deinonychus.
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