Australia: The Land Where Time Began
The first fossil of this dromaeosaur was found in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, in what appeared to be struggle with a Protoceratops andrewsi, a sheep-sized herbivorous dinosaur. They were trapped when a large, wet sand dune collapsed onto them in the position they were at the time of their death. V. mongoliensis was about 1.8 m long and weighed about 20 kg. It had the sharp claws on each of its 3 fingers, and the trade-mark enlarged claw on the second toe of the dromaeosaurs. It is believed that the Velociraptor had killed the Protoceratops, but because the Protoceratops had clamped its jaws on the arm of the predator it could not escape. Another interpretation of death scene is that they were buried by a sandstorm, trapping the Velociraptor because it couldn't extricate its arm.
- Feathered Dinosaurs: the Origin of Birds, John Long and Peter Schuten, CSIRO Publishing
- Feathered Dinosaurs, Christopher Sloan, National Geographic Society
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30/09/2011 |
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