Is the raptor in the movie Jurassic Park a real dinosaur? It is actually based on the velociraptor. The velociraptor was a carnivore also known as the 'speedy thief'. It was about two metres long, one metre tall and may have weighed seven to 15 kilograms.
It had about 30 very sharp, curved teeth in a long, flat snout, an s-shaped neck, long thin legs, arms with three-fingered clawed hands and four-toed clawed feet.
The brain of the velociraptor was very large compared with its body size, so it was among the most intelligent of dinosaurs.
The velociraptor lived in the late Cretaceous period, about 80 million to 85 million years ago. Among the contemporaries of the velociraptor were the protoceratops and oviraptor. Velociraptors were meat- eaters. They ate just about anything they could tear apart and were among the fastest of dinosaurs.
In 1971, fossils of a velociraptor and a protoceratops were found together. Apparently, the velociraptor was attacking the protoceratops with its claws and the armoured head of the protoceratops had apparently pierced the chest of the velociraptor and the two died together. The velociraptor was first found and described by H F Osborn in Mongolia in 1924. More than 10 velociraptor fossils have been found in Mongolia, Russia and China.
Why do some countries have summer time and winter time? MARGHERITA The hours of sunlight vary during the year. In the summer, the sun rises earlier and sets later, so there are more hours of daylight. In the winter, the reverse happens, with the sun rising later and setting earlier, resulting in shorter days.