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[ Raptor Skull Angle | Raptor Sketch ]

VELOCIRAPTOR (veh-loss-ih-RAP-tor) "Swift Robber" (Latin velocis = swift + raptor = robber, referring to its speed and its grasping hands)

A COELUROSAUR similar to Deinonychus, but this fierce little meat eater lived several millions years later, during the Late CRETACEOUS PERIOD. Velociraptor was about the size of a man. It had long, three-fingered HANDS and sickle-like talons on each foot. Like Deinonychus, this BIPED had long, slender legs and could run swiftly. Its FOSSILS were found in Mongolia, where it had died in a death struggle--its hands were gripping the skull of a PROTOCERATOPS, and one of its awful CLAWS was embedded in the bellyof its prey.

Classification: Coelurosauria, Theropoda, Saurischia

Questions & Answers

(Q) How was it born, raised, who were its enemies?
(A) From what I know, they are born in clutches, the nest is basically composed of mud and various other gathered items.
One theory is that the young raptors must fend for themselves after they hatch. When the raptors are very young their predators are just about every predatory animal that lived in the forest, waters, flatlands, and even air. The survivors of the young raptors grew up to be successful hunters. Their predators now were the really large carnivorous dinosaurs. And the smaller ones that once threatened their very lives when they were just hatchlings are now the hunted. As with all animals the raptors must have been territorial, so there were probably conflicts between one raptor pack and another.
The other theory is that the Raptor parents took care and protected their young until they were old enough to fend for themselves.