The Very Vicious Velociraptor Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cretaceous

Velociraptors lived in the late Cretaceous Period, about 71 to 75 million years ago. It was a part of the Mesozoic Era and the Phanerozoic Eon.

Answer: Mongolia

It was found during an American Museum of Natural History expedition in the Gobi Desert. The area it was found in is known as the Flaming Cliffs. The fossil was complete, although the skull was crushed.

Answer: True

In 2007, quill knobs were found on the fossils of a Velociraptor. These are similar to bird bones and have led scientists to believe they had feathers. However, they did not fly. The feathers were most likely used in mating rituals and to protect their nests.

Answer: Protoceratops

This fossil was discovered in a portion of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. One of the Velociraptor's forelimbs was in the Protoceratops' jaw. Although it is not known for certain how the two dinosaurs died together, many scientists believe their deaths were caused by a sandstorm.

Answer: a turkey

Adult Velociraptors were only about one and a half to three feet tall and around 30 pounds. From snout to tail tip, they were around six to seven feet long. They had about 26 to 28 teeth.

Answer: large, curved claws

The sickle-like claws were on the second toe on their hind feet. These claws were used to kill prey. They were most likely used to stab, rather than cut or slash.

Answer: Dromaeosauridae

Dromaeosauridae means "running lizards" in Greek. Other dinosaurs in this family include Deinonychus, Microraptor, and Mahakala.

Answer: 2008

The two species of Velociraptor are V. mongoliensis and V. osmolskae. Fossils of the second species, V. osmolskae, were found in 1999, but it was not until 2008 that it was named a Velociraptor. It was only a part of the jaw that was discovered.

Answer: It was headless.

This fossil was found by scientists from the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Like many other Velociraptor fossils, it was found in Mongolia. The fact that its head was missing led to it being nicknamed "Ichabodcraniosaurus", an allusion to the headless horseman, Ichabod Crane, in Washington Irving's "Sleepy Hollow".

Answer: swift robber

The name Velociraptor comes from the Latin words "velox", which means "swift" and "raptor", which means "robber" or "plunderer". It was named by Henry Fairfield Osborn in 1924, after the first fossil was discovered.