Raptors

• "Raptors" is a nickname for the dromaeosaur group.

• "Raptor" is variously said to mean "plunderer," "thief," or "hunter" (birds of prey are also called raptors).

• Dromaeosaurs were medium-sized, powerful, agile, meat-eating dinosaurs that lived mainly about 110-65 mya.

• Most dromaeosaurs were 5-10ft (1.5-3m) long, weighed 45-130lb (20-60kg), and stood 3-6ft (1-2m) tall.

• Velociraptor lived 75-70 mya, in what is now the barren desert of Mongolia in Central Asia.

• Like other raptors, Velociraptor probably ran fast and could leap great distances on its powerful back legs.

• The dromaeosaurs are named after the 6ft (1.8m) long Dromaeosaurus from North America--one of the least known of the group, from very few fossil finds.

• The best-known raptor is probably Deinonychus.

• The large mouths of dromaeosaurs opened wide and were equipped with many small, sharp, curved teeth.

STAR FACT
On each foot, a dromaeosaur had a large, curved claw that it could swing in an arc to slash through its victim's flesh.

By: Parker, Steve, Dinosaurs