Velociraptor

Velociraptor was a small dinosaur that hunted other animals. It lived in Asia a very long time ago. This was about 75 million years before people existed. Scientists have found two different types of this dinosaur.

The first type was found in Mongolia. Scientists named it in 1924. The second type was found in China much later. It was named in 2008 after scientists studied its skull bones.

Velociraptor was about as long as a tall man lying down. It weighed about as much as a large dog. It was much smaller than some other hunting dinosaurs. But it had the same sharp claws and teeth as them.

This dinosaur walked on two strong back legs. It had feathers all over its body like a bird. It had a very long tail that helped it balance. On each back foot, it had one huge curved claw. It used this claw to catch and hold other animals it hunted.

Many people know about Velociraptor from movies. In those movies, the dinosaurs were much bigger and scarier. But real Velociraptors were only about the size of a turkey. Scientists have found many Velociraptor skeletons buried in rocks. One skeleton shows a Velociraptor fighting with another dinosaur called Protoceratops.