Velociraptor

Velociraptor [Gr.,=swift robber], swift bipedal carnivorous dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period. It was relatively small, being approximately 6 ft (1.8 m) long. It was similar to Deinonychus in appearance and, like that dinosaur, had a lethal sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of each three-toed foot, which was used for attacking prey. Fossil skeletons have been found in Mongolia. A find of particular interest, discovered in the Gobi desert in 1971, revealed a Velociraptor in the act of attacking another dinosaur, the herbivorous Protoceratops. Velociraptor belongs to the group of saurischian theropods [Gr., = beast feet] that includes Tyrannosaurus , Deinonychus, and living birds.

velociraptor a small dromaeosaurid dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period, given great prominence in the novel and film Jurassic Park; the current general use of raptor for this kind of dinosaur comes from a shortening of this word.