Velociraptor Skull

Velociraptor was a small, aggressive predator that lived 83 to 70 million years ago. Although weighing in at only 30 pounds, velociraptor’s sharp claws, long hands and strong jaws made it one of the most effective hunters of the Cretaceous period. The name velociraptor means “fast hunter.”

Fossil hunters found the first skull and sickle claw belonging to velociraptor about 100 years ago. Paleontologists know a lot about its appearance and how it lived from skulls, claws and other fossils. Analysis of the eye sockets indicates that velociraptor could see well in the dark and was likely nocturnal. When it walked and ran, velociraptor had to keep the huge killing claw on its second toe raised.

One of the most spectacular fossils ever found called the “Fighting Dinosaurs” tells us that velociraptor hunted the frilled, horned herbivore protoceratops. This fossil preserved the skeletons of the two dinosaurs locked in deadly combat. The velociraptor had its killing claw jabbed into the prey’s neck as its front claw slashed at the face. Meanwhile, the herbivore gripped its attacker’s arm in its powerful beak. The two may have killed each other and were then suddenly engulfed in a sand drift.

Another remarkable fossil of an arm bone tells us that velociraptor had an array of true feathers, the sort we would find on a bird today. This fossil was studded with quill knobs, indentations where the feathers joined the bone. Hairlike feather filaments may have insulated its body. There is significant evidence that dinosaurs related to velociraptor evolved into modern-day birds.