Who Was the First to Discover Velociraptor Fossils?
The Velociraptor is among the most well-known dinosaur species, partially due to its notoriety in pop culture. Although most movies embellish the facts about these beasts, one thing they get right is that the Velociraptor was an interesting creature.
Velociraptors have fascinated us since their initial discovery many years ago. Read on to find out who was the first to discover Velociraptor fossils, plus some fun facts about this dinosaur.
Who Found the First Velociraptor Fossils?
On August 11th, 1923, paleontologist Peter Kaisen unearthed the first (discovered) Velociraptor fossils in Mongolia. The uncovered remains were a crushed skull and claw. Kaisen determined that the creature was a type of raptor based on the shape of the skull once reassembled.
Dino Fact
A raptor is a sub-group of therapods. Dinosaurs in the raptor group were small-to-medium sized, covered in feathers, and had hollow bones.
Who Named the Velociraptor?
Now that we know who discovered the first Velociraptor fossils, let’s get into who named the creature.
Although Kaisen discovered the fossils, Henry Fairfield Osborn, the president of the Museum of Natural History, named the dino. Initially, he called the beast Ovoraptor but soon changed it to Velociraptor mongoliensis, as it seemed more suitable.
Osborn likely changed the name due to key features of the Velociraptor’s remains. The prefix of its name comes from the Latin “velox,” meaning swift, while “raptor” means robber. Together, this means “swift robber.” The mongoliensis part of the name means “from Mongolia” because the dinosaur lived in that region.
Dino Fun Facts About Velociraptors
It’s been over 100 years since we first discovered the Velociraptor’s remains in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Since that day, we’ve learned quite a bit about these creatures, including:
They Had Feathers
Most of us picture dinosaurs as large, scaly lizards. While some creatures had this appearance, this wasn’t the case for all species. The Velociraptor had feathers, likely making it more aerodynamic as it sprinted after prey. In fact, Velociraptors and other theropods are early ancestors of modern birds.
They Were Cunning Carnivores
The Velociraptor had 60 razor-sharp teeth and talons, making it a fierce hunter. However, this beast also scavenged for food, stealing the meals of fellow dinosaurs. In addition to their dietary habits, this shows Velociraptors were quite discreet creatures.
They Weren’t Very Large
In the movies, Velociraptors are often an average person’s size, if not taller. In reality, these dinosaurs were roughly the size of a turkey. Despite this small stature, they remained one of the top apex predators in the Gobi Dessert.
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