Ask aDino Field Guide ← Cretaceous

Artist's reconstruction · realistic art coming in a later version

Velociraptor

veh-LOSS-ih-RAP-tor

“Swift Thief”

Cretaceous
When
Late Cretaceous
Where
Mongolia
Size
About 6 ft long
Diet
Meat

7 Facts

1–7
  1. The real Velociraptor was only about the size of a turkey — much smaller than in the movies.
  2. Its name means “Swift Thief.”
  3. It had a large, curved sickle claw on each foot for pinning down prey.
  4. It was covered in feathers — we know because fossils show “quill knobs” on its arm bones.
  5. It was very smart for a dinosaur, with a relatively large brain.
  6. A famous fossil captures a Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops, buried mid-fight.
  7. It lived in the deserts of Mongolia.