Velociraptor facts for kids

Meet Velociraptor

Its name means swift thief. In Latin, velox means swift and raptor means thief or robber.

Real Velociraptors were about the size of a turkey, and they had feathers. It was about 1.8 metres long from nose to tail and had lots of sharp, pointed teeth. It was a theropod, so it walked on two legs, like T. rex.

Velociraptor had a big curved claw on each foot, held up off the ground.

Was it like the raptors in the films?

No. The raptors in the Jurassic Park films were made about twice the size of the real Velociraptor. The film raptors were based on bigger relatives.

When and where did Velociraptor live?

In the Late Cretaceous, more than 70 million years ago, in what is now Mongolia. Fossils have also been found in China. It lived at the same time and in the same place as Oviraptor and Protoceratops.

It never met T. rex, which came along a few million years later.

Velociraptor in a nutshell

• Name means: swift thief
• Lived: more than 70 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous
• Ate: meat
• Length: about 1.8 metres
• Found in: Mongolia and China
• Lived at the same time as: Oviraptor and Protoceratops

Quick quiz: Velociraptor

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