During the Late Cretaceous period, a tiny dromaeosaurid dinosaur genus called Velociraptor flourished in Asia between 75 and 71 million years ago. Although various names have been given in the past, only two species are officially recognized now. V. mongoliensis is the type species, and fossils of this species have been found in Mongolia’s Djadochta Formation.
In 2008, V. osmolar, a new species was identified using Chinese skull material from the Bayan Mandahu Formation. Velociraptor was smaller than other dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus and Achillobator, measuring 1.5–2.0 m long and weighing 14.1–19.7 kg. Despite this, it had many of the same anatomical characteristics.
It was a bipedal, feathery carnivore with a long tail. Each of its hind feet had an enlarged claw in the style of a sickle, which was probably used to tackle and restrain prey. The Velociraptor differs from other dromaeosaurids by having a giant, low skull and an upward-pointing snout.
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Table of Content:
History and Discovery
Peter Kaisen discovered the first Velociraptor fossil known to science on August 11, 1923, while on an American Museum of Natural History expedition to the Flaming Cliffs of the Djadochta Formation, Gobi Desert (AMNH 6515). It was a crushed but complete skull connected to one of the raptorial second-toe claws. As the type specimen for his new genus, Velociraptor, museum director Henry Fairfield Osborn selected the skull and claw in 1924.
The animal’s raptorial behavior and carnivorous diet are indicated by its name, derived from the Latin terms velox and raptor. Osborn named V. mongoliensis to the type species in honor of its native Mongolia. Osborn had earlier that year unofficially described the creature as “Ovoraptor djadochtari” in a piece for the popular press; the name was later altered to “V. mongoliensis” during its formal description.
A joint Chinese-Canadian team found Velociraptor fossils in northern China between 1988 and 1990. When American researchers revisited Mongolia in 1990, a Mongolian-American expedition to the Gobi organized by the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the American Museum of Natural History discovered many exceptionally well-preserved skeletons.
What did Velociraptor eat?
The carnivorous Velociraptor hunted and foraged for food. According to David Hone, a paleontologist at Queen Mary University of London, “it spent the vast majority of the time eating small things,” which most likely comprised reptiles, amphibians, insects, small dinosaurs, and mammals.
Protoceratops, an herbivore the size of a sheep and a progenitor of Triceratops, and the swift predator also appear to have had a problematic relationship. It consisted of fossils of a Velociraptor and Protoceratops that were impaled in a death grip, with one of the Protoceratops’ teeth embedded in the Velociraptor’s neck and one of the Velociraptor’s arms likely broken by the latter.
It was concluded that the raptor did not kill the plant-eater after examining the bones. According to the research published in the 2010 issue of the journal Palaeogeography. When the researchers uncovered a sizable pterosaur bone within the stomach of a Velociraptor in 2012, they also learned that Velociraptors occasionally consumed pterosaurs.
Fossil
On the first American Museum of Natural History mission to the Gobi Desert in Outer Mongolia in August 1923, Peter Kaisen found the first Velociraptor fossil. The fossil comprised a toe claw and a crushed but intact cranium.
Fossils of Velociraptor have been discovered in the Gobi Desert, which spans sections of northern China and southern Mongolia. Only one Velociraptor mongoliensis fossil has been found, and it is in the Djadochta Formation in the Mnögovi province of Mongolia. In Inner Mongolia, China, at the Bayan Mandahu Formation, Velociraptor osmolskae was found. Based on a portion of an adult skull, the species was described. Other Velociraptor fossils, like the “Fighting Dinosaurs,” were discovered in arid dune habitats.
Provenance
The Djadochta Formation in the Chinese Inner Mongolia, or the Mongolian province of Mnögovi, is where all known Velociraptor mongoliensis fossils were found. A Velociraptor species, possibly V. mongoliensis, is also present in Mongolia’s marginally more recent Barun Goyot Formation.
The Campania stage of the Late Cretaceous Epoch is thought to be the period when these geologic formations first appeared. Numerous of the most well-known Djadochta sites have reported finding V. mongoliensis. The Flaming Cliffs site is where the type specimen was found.
The “Fighting Dinosaurs” were discovered in the Tugrig area. More recently, fossils of V. mongoliensis were found at Bayan Mandahu, a rich site in Inner Mongolia, China’s Djadochta region. The skull of a dromaeosaurid, designated only as IGM 100/1015, was found at the Ukhaa Tolgod site.
Taxonomy
The subfamily Velociraptorinae, a descendant division of the broader family Dromaeosaurid, includes Velociraptor. Velociraptorinae, used in phylogenetic taxonomy, is typically defined as “all dromaeosaurs more closely related to Velociraptor than Dromaeosaurid.”
The classification of Dromaeosaurid varies greatly. The subfamily Velociraptorinae was first created specifically to house Velociraptors. Different genera, typically Deinonychus and Saurornitholestes, have been included in other assessments. Recently, fossils of dromaeosaurid animals that were more basic than Velociraptors and had fully formed feathered wings have been discovered in China.
Given that even today’s flightless birds still maintain the majority of their feathers, Velociraptors likely bore feathers as well. Although no fossil evidence supports the existence of feathers on Velociraptors, there is no reason to believe that it was an exception.
In Popular Culture
Michael Crichton’s 1990 book Jurassic Park and Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film adaptation, the Velociraptor is well-known for playing a cruel and cunning killer. In the movie and the book, paleontologists unearth a Velociraptor skeleton far from the Velociraptor’s native central Asia, in Montana, where Deinonychus remains would be discovered.
Velociraptor is now a widely used depiction of dinosaurs in popular culture due to the popularity of Jurassic Park. It has appeared in several motion pictures and television shows, including the animated episodes of The Land Before Time and the Transformers spin-off Beast Wars. Rob Raptor is a robotic toy that is modeled on the Velociraptor. In addition to games based on Jurassic Park, Velociraptor has appeared in various video games, such as the Carnivores, Dino Crisis, and World of Warcraft series.
Conclusion
Conclusion, Velociraptor continues to be one of the most fascinating dinosaur species that the scientific community is aware of. It will be intriguing to see what new kind of knowledge may be obtained from future discoveries when more fossilized examples of this remarkable creature are discovered by scientists and archaeologists alike. One of the most intriguing features of the Velociraptor is its innate similarity to modern birds.
Future studies will likely rely heavily on this knowledge to comprehend this early carnivore’s behavior, instincts, intelligence, and other qualities. Only time will tell what further discoveries can be made. Still, science and technological advancements hold the key to a deeper comprehension of this unusual and exciting animal from the distant past.
