VELOCIRAPTOR

genus of theropod dinosaurs that flourished in Central and East Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period (97.5 to 66.4 million years ago). A member of the dromaeosaur (q.v.) family, Velociraptor was a late relative and near mimic of Deinonychus, which lived in North America in the Early Cretaceous Period (144 to 97.5 million years ago). Both animals possessed an unusual sickle claw on each foot, as well as ossified tendon reinforcements in the tail that enabled them to keep their balance while striking and slashing at prey with the sickle claw of one upraised foot. Velociraptor was smaller than Deinonychus, however, reaching a length of only 1.8 m (6 feet) and perhaps weighing no more than 45 kg (100 pounds). It appears to have been a swift, agile predator of small herbivores.