Velociraptor was a small theropod dinosaur (about the size of a large turkey) that lived in what is now Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous Period (about 75 million years ago). It was a very fast runner, using its speed to outrun prey and its sharp claws to capture it. Velociraptor was a star in the Jurassic Park movie series.
The first Velociraptor was discovered in Mongolia 1923 during one of the famous American Museum of Natural History expeditions. Since then, many specimens have been collected over the years, including one very interesting specimen that died while fighting another dinosaur. We believe that the two dinosaurs were killed when they were suddenly buried when a sand dune collapsed onto them, preserving them in mid-fight.
Velociraptor ran on its hind legs, using its long tail to balance. It front limbs were large, and its hands were very strong. As you can see on our Velociraptor toy, it had long sickle-shaped claws which were used to grasp its prey, which it then killed using its sharp teeth. Velociraptor belongs to the group of dinosaurs that are closely related to birds. The hands and fingers are particularly bird-like in their structure.
