velociraptor

A genus of mongolian dromaeosaurid living about 80 million years ago during the late Cretaceous. It was a small and nimble creature about 6 feet long, bird-like in structure, with a narrow, flattened head and an enlarged "killing claw" on the second toe. The arms ended in three-fingered hands with flexible wrists that could be "folded" like those of a bird. They were probably quite social as well, and there is also evidence to support that they were nasty to each other as well as their prey. An overwhelming piece of evidence suggests that Velociraptor preyed on the ceratopside Protoceratops, as one specimen was found gripping the head frill of the latter with it's foot claw in the creature's belly. The Protoceratops, in turn, was apparently biting the Velociraptor's arm with it's horny beak and ramming it's bony head into the raptor's chest. What calamity claimed the lives of both creatures is unknown. Velociraptor, of course, was popularized by the Jurassic Park films and portrayed inaccurately. The so-called raptors in the films are much too big (Deinonychus-sized), would almost certainly have had feathers, and were not as fast as cheetahs or as smart as monkeys. Instead, raptors may have been about as smart as birds of prey. Other Dromaeosaurid genera include Deinonychus, Dromaeosaurus, Utahraptor, Adasaurus, Variraptor, Megaraptor, Saurornitholestes, Sinornithosaurus, Bambiraptor, and Rhahonavis.