"Swift thief"

Velociraptor

Smaller than the movies suggest — about the size of a turkey, and fully feathered — but every bit as sharp. Velociraptor used its famous sickle claw not to slash but to pin struggling prey, eating it alive like a modern eagle.

Length
2 m
Height
0.7 m
Weight
15 kg
Top speed
60 km/h

Field notes

  • A fossil preserves one locked in combat with a Protoceratops.
  • Quill knobs on its arm bones prove it had feathers.
  • It was about the size of a large turkey.
Meet the rest of the Dromaeosauridae family →