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| − | '''Velociraptor''' is the name for a small, fast-running, carnivorous [[dinosaur]]. | + | '''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> | | 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 now extinct. | | The velociraptor is now extinct. |
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| | [[Evolutionists]] believe that the velociraptor 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> | | [[Evolutionists]] believe that the velociraptor 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> |
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| | + | 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> |
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| | == Stephen Spielberg's ''Jurassic Park'' == | | == 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]]. | + | 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. |
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| | == References == | | == References == |