Velociraptor

Q: How large was a Velociraptor compared to a human being?

Velociraptor was somewhat smaller and somewhat lighter than modern adult human beings . The largest members of the genus grew up to length of 1.8 metres (6 feet), which is comparable to the height of a an adult male human, but they probably weighed no more than 45 kg (100 pounds). In contrast, the average weight of an adult human being is about 62 kg (about 137 pounds).

Q: Why did Velociraptor go extinct?

No one knows for sure why Velociraptor went extinct, but fossil evidence suggests that it died out about 70 million years ago near the end of the Cretaceous Period . The timing of their extinction came shortly before the onset of the K–T extinction , the global mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs and many other forms of life .

Q: What animal is a descendant of a Velociraptor?

Modern birds are thought to be closely related to dromaeosaurs , which is the name of the family in which Velociraptor is classified, but, so far, there is no direct link between Velociraptor and modern birds.

dinosaur

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History

How large was a Velociraptor compared to a human being?

Why did Velociraptor go extinct?

What animal is a descendant of a Velociraptor?

Velociraptor, (genus Velociraptor), sickle-clawed dinosaur that flourished in central and eastern Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period (99 million to 65 million years ago). It is closely related to the North American Deinonychus of the Early Cretaceous in that both reptiles were dromaeosaurs. Both possessed an unusually large claw on each foot, as well as ossified tendon reinforcements in the tail that enabled them to maintain balance while striking and slashing at prey with one foot upraised. Velociraptor was smaller than Deinonychus, reaching a length of only 1.8 metres (6 feet) and perhaps weighing no more than 45 kg (100 pounds). Velociraptor appears to have been a swift, agile predator of small herbivores.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by John P. Rafferty.