5 Interesting Facts About Velociraptor - The Speedy Thief

Posted by james luthor on June 21st, 2019

The name Velociraptor is derived from Latin words velox meaning swift and raptor means robber. The bird like dinosaur roamed around the Earth for about 85.8 million to 70.6 million years during the end of Cretaceous period. For years Velociraptor remained unnoticed, but after the sci-fiction adventure film Jurassic Park, he gained a lot attention. It was roughly the same size as that of an ostrich or turkey and belongs to the family of Dromaeosauridae. Let's discover some more interesting facts of the creature.

They had hooked shaped claws

The raptor, as commonly known as, came with sharp hooked claws which they used as their weapon. On each foot, they had a specialized toe with a huge, hooked claw. Both claws could be pulled backwards to a great degree. Velociraptor held them high up off the ground in order to keep the claw tips sharp. Replicas of their claws are sold as a gift or toy for kids. One can also look for velociraptor claw for sale.

Only two species discovered so far

The first known Velociraptor fossil was found in the Mongolian Gobi Desert in 1922.Only two species have been discovered so far. Velociraptor mongoliensis was named in 1924 and Velociraptor osmolskae in 2008. Both are known from China,though V. mongoliensis also roamed Mongolia.

They ate flying reptiles

In 2012, scientists discovered a banged-up pterosaur bone lodged inside one Velociraptor’s ribcage. With an estimated 6- to 9-foot wingspan, this flyer was not that powerful. According  to paleontologist David Hone, a small dino like Velociraptor would have found attacking that kind of target “difficult and probably even dangerous.” Instead, the bone was “most likely scavenged from a carcass rather than the result of a predatory kill.”

The sound used in the movie Jurassic Park were tortoise grunts

Interestingly when the directors were working on the sound and while gathering animal voices, the staff at Marine World one day, asked sound designer Gary Rydstrom if he wanted to record two tortoises mating. It was tortoise love grunts that was finally used in the movie.

They had wings but could not fly

Scientist claim that they had wing bones but they were unable to fly. They had some tell-tale bumps called "quill knobs" on the forearm of one Mongolian specimen. In many 21^st-century birds, these act as anchors for strong flight feathers but not back then.

There are more fun facts about these creature and if you are someone with interest in dinosaurs, you can buy their fossils and other things online.

Author’s bio: The author is a blogger and the article is about dinosaurs.