Velociraptor - the Scientia Review

Table Of
Contents
DROMAEOSAURIDAE FAMILY
3
WHAT ARE VELOCIRAPTORS?
4
VELOCIRAPTORS AND BIRDS
5
PHYSIOLOGY OF VELOCIRAPTORS
6
THE FOSSILS
8
PREDATORY BEHAVIOR
10
HABITAT
13
FAMILIAL BEHAVIOR
14
DIET
JURASSIC PARK
15
16
PHILOSORAPTOR
GLOSSARY
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
17
18
19
The Dromaeosauridae
Family
The family Dromaeosauridae consisted of
small, feathered, carnivorous dinosaurs.
They had relatively large skulls, jagged
teeth, small snouts, and eyes pointed to
the front. In addition, they also had long
arms and large claws with elongated phalanges. Their tails were flexible and may
have been used to help the Dromaeosauridae dinosaurs maintain balance. Furthermore, their feet each had one sickleshaped claw, which might have been used
to attack and kill prey.
What are
Velociraptors?
Velociraptors, members of the Dromaeosauridae family, were agile and carnivorous dinosaurs that lived in Asia during
the late Cretaceous period, approximately
65 to 99 million years ago. They were generally smaller than other dinosaurs of their
family, but some aspects of their physiologies are similar to those of their “relatives,”
with long tails, feathers, and claws on their
feet that were shaped as sickles. However,
their lower skulls and upturned snouts allowed them to be distinguished from other
Dromaeosauridae dinosaurs.
Velociraptors
and Birds
Velociraptors share numerous characteristics with modern-day birds. For example,
both the raptors and the birds have feathered bodies. In addition, like birds, velociraptors have hollow bones, the capability of laying eggs, and probably birdlike behaviors. However, despite their feathers,
velociraptors could not fly. Their short
arms, however, prevented them from lifting
off the ground.
Physiology
Of Velociraptors
Velociraptors had elongated skulls which
curved upwards and could be up to 9.8 in.
long (25 cm). It is also known from fossils
that the velociraptor had approximately 28
teeth which were spaced widely. The teeth
of the velociraptor were jagged along the
back to hold and tear meat from their prey.
The velociraptor is also known to have had
an S-shaped neck and long thin legs as
well as long arms, which featured threefingered claws on their hands.
Physiology (cont.)
As a result from its slender legs and lightweight, the velociraptor is believed to
have been able to run at speeds of approximately 40 mph. Moving at such fast
speeds was useful for hunting prey and
was made possible by their long tail which
provided the dinosaurs with balance. Their
tails were also known to be very stiff due
to the ossified tendons and due to the
boney ends of their tails.
The Fossils
The first velociraptor fossil was found during an expedition of the American Museum of Natural History in 1922 to the
Gobi Desert. Here, they found a complete
but crushed skull that was associated with
a raptorial second claw. In 1924 Henry
Fairfield Osborn, the museum president,
named his type species Velociraptor mongoliensis after its country of origin.
The Fossils (cont.)
The name velociraptor is derived from two
Latin words, velox, meaning swift, and raptor, meaning robber. These words describe
the nature of the animal. Several expeditions took place throughout the remainder
of the Twentieth Century. During the Cold
War, North American expeditions were
blocked from Mongolia, while Soviet & Polish expeditions collaborated with Mongolian
teams to recover several more velociraptor
specimens.
Predatory
Behavior
While the velociraptor did not possess the
incredible intelligence of modern apes,
they did understand how to provide food
and did so by teaming in packs to hunt
and kill. Paleontologists made this assumption when they discovered many velociraptor remains in one location. This
also led to the theory that since the velociraptor hunted with a pack mentality,
other closely related dinosaurs, like the
Deinonychus and Dromeosaurus also
hunted as packs.
Predatory
Behavior (cont.)
Due to the size of velociraptors it is believed by paleontologists that this carnivore
fed on smaller herbivorous dinosaurs that
it could easily hold down using its sickleshaped claw. Taking into consideration,
however, that the velociraptor hunted as a
pack animal it is entirely possible that this
terrifying hunter made prey of animals
much larger than themselves as well.
Predatory
Behavior (cont.)
One dinosaur known for certain that was
made into a meal by the velociraptor
was the protoceratops. It was around
the size of a pig and is known for certain
as prey of the velociraptor by fossilized
remains of the two fighting against one
another. This particular fossil is of importance to the scientific community because of the positioning of the two
specimens.
Fun Fact
The Velociraptor
was about the
size of a large
chicken.
Habitat of
Velociraptors
The habitat of a velociraptor consisted
of what is now the Gobi Desert in
Mongolia. Back in the Cretaceous period, the area was more habitable but
did still suffer from events such as
sandstorms. The velociraptor would
have a centralized nest where the
young was raised and cared for while
many of the adults would venture out
to hunt.
Familial Behavior
Skulls of young velociraptors have shown
that this dinosaur more likely cared for its
young. Instead of appearing to be a small
adult skull, the skull of a young velociraptor is disproportionate in several areas.
The snout are short and the eyes are
large indicating that the babies were fed
and tended to.
Fun Fact
The Velociraptor
was probably
warm blooded.
Velociraptor
Diet
The velociraptor was carnivorous meaning
it consumed meat as its diet. Most often it
will eat small dinosaurs and mammals that
are about the same size as it is but it often
has eaten larger ones. It has been able to
hunt larger prey because of its pack behavior and cooperation of several velociraptors at once. The pack would surround and overwhelm its prey, able to take
advantage of their numbers and speed being able to travel quickly on their two hind
legs. They would use their sickle-shaped
claws on their feet to pierce the vital organs of their prey and kill them quickly.
Popular CultureJurassic Park
The velociraptor is one of the most familiar dinosaurs known to the general public
due to its prominent role in the Jurassic
Park motion picture series. In the films it
was shown with several inaccuracies, including being much larger than it was in
reality and without feathers. This was because in the movie the dinosaur that was portrayed was the deinonychus.
Popular CulturePhilosoraptor
Philosoraptor is an image series featuring
a picture of a velociraptor in deep thought
regarding the world’s queries and paradoxes. To the readers, it proposes deep
questions about life. The original philosoraptor was created as a T-shirt design
on LonelyDinosaur by Sam Smith. In
March 2009, Memegenerator was
launched, allowing the philosoraptor variations to flourish. On Memegenerator, the philosoraptor remains one of
the most popular image series in online
with over 38,000 instances and 12 different templates (as of July 2011).
Glossary
Carnivore– an animal that consumes meat for its diet
Cretaceous Period– about 145-66 million years ago, the
final period of the Mesozoic Era
Family– Animals that share many characteristics
Habitat– the home and environment of an animal
Herbivore– an animal that consumes plant life to sustain
itself
Paleontologists– someone who studies dinosaur fossils
Phalanges--the bones located in the fingers
Physiologies– the physical characteristics of an animal
Prey- animals that get hunted by other animals
Sickle– a curved blade used to farm grain
About the
Authors
Kathleen (Kat) Law is currently a junior at
Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science and lives in Worcester, MA. She enjoys playing various instruments such as
the piano, cello, drums and organ. She
also enjoys rapping, singing, drawing and
writing.
Lipee Vora lives in Franklin, MA and is a
current junior at Massachusetts Academy
of Math and Science. Lipee enjoys doing
martial arts, dancing, swimming, tennis,
and community service.
Tyler Jaskoviak is a current junior at Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science
and lives in West Boylston, MA. He enjoys
playing soccer as well as writing. His favorite color is blue.
Image Credits
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cd/
Velociraptor_dinoguy2.jpg/220px-Velociraptor_dinoguy2.jpg
http://es.jurassicpark.wikia.com/wiki/Velociraptor
http://www.locolobo.org/files/1velociraptor.jpg
http://sauropedia.wordpress.com/2011/05/14/velociraptor/
http://ayay.co.uk/background/dinosaurs/bipedal_predator/
velociraptor-skeleton/
http://www.baystatereplicas2.com/product/velociraptorprotoceratops-fighting-dinosaurs/
http://japa2.cgsociety.org/gallery/913531/
http://www.nmsu.edu/zuhl/documents/oviraptor-nest.jpg
http://maxcdn.spotonlists.com/wp-content/
uploads/2013/01/velocipators.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Velociraptor
https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2251403960/
Philosoraptor.gif