Velociraptor

2012-06-24T18:22:34Z

Hwoarang:

{{Taxonomy
|name=Velociraptor
|image=Velociraptor.jpg
|caption=
|domain=Eukaryota
|kingdom=Animalia
|subkingdom=Bilataria
|branch=
|superphylum=Deuterostomia
|phylum=Chordata
|subphylum=Vertebrata
|infraphylum=Gnathostomata
|microphylum=
|superdivision=
|division=
|subdivision=
|superclass=Tetrapoda
|class=Reptilia
|subclass=Diapsida
|infraclass=Archosauromorpha
|superorder=Dinosauria
|order=Saurischia
|suborder=Theropoda
|infraorder=Deinonychosauria
|superfamily=
|family=Dromaeosauridae
|subfamily=
|supertribe=
|tribe=
|subtribe=
|genera=
|genus=Velociraptor
|subgenus=
|species=V. mongoliensis
|binomialname=
|sub=
|alt=
|regionimg=
|pop=
|conservation=Extinct
}}
'''Velociraptor''' ("fast hunter") is the name for a small, fast-running, carnivorous [[dinosaur]].
Velociraptor was small for a dromaeosaurid, with adults measuring up to 1.8 meters (5.9 ft) long, 0.62 meters (2 ft) high at the hip, and weighing 20 kilograms (45 lb)<ref>Norell, M.A. & Makovicky, P.J. 1999. Important features of the dromaeosaurid skeleton II: information from newly collected specimens of Velociraptor mongoliensis. American Museum Novitates 3282</ref>
The velociraptor is extinct and is thought to have existed between 99 and 65 million years ago, in the late [[Cretaceous]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074983/Velociraptor Velociraptor] in Encyclopedia Britannica</ref>

The first Velociraptor [[fossil]] was found in [[Mongolia]] in the 1920s by an American Museum of Natural History expedition, and a number of fossils have been found since then in Mongolia and northern [[China]]. The most well-known find, discovered in 1971, includes a complete Velociraptor skeleton wrapped around that of a Protoceratops, an early ceratopsian and ancestor of [[Triceratops]]. The two were apparently in mid-fight when they were buried.<ref>''The Complete Book of Dinosaurs'', by Dougal Dixon, Hermes House, 2006</ref>

==Did it have feathers?==
"The researchers believe the bumps on the arm bone are remnants of [[quill]] knobs, places where the quills of secondary feathers — important for flight in many modern birds — were anchored to the bone." [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297503,00.html]

== Stephen Spielberg's ''Jurassic Park'' ==
The Velociraptor played a prominent part in Stephen Spielberg's motion picture ''[[Jurassic Park]]'' in which it was misrepresented as a much larger creature. It was in fact merely the size of a turkey.<ref>http://www.answers.com/topic/velociraptor</ref> The version of the Velociraptor in ''Jurassic Park'' more closely resembled a [[Deinonychus]], a close relative of Velociraptor.

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Dinosaurs]]

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Velociraptor