<p>Produced by Geraldine Norris http://www.linkingtoliteracy.com Produced by Geraldine Norris http://www.linkingtoliteracy.com Velociraptor Bloom’s Taxonomy The velociraptor was a carniverous hunting dinosaur that Remembering: lived in hot desert areas about 75 million years ago. It was  When and where did Velociraptor live? not a large dinosaur and was a biped (2 legged).  What made Velociraptor such a good hunter? Velociraptor means “speedy seizer, speedy predator or swift thief” so you can see that the commonality here is that it was fast! In fact it is  How big was Velociraptor? believed that it could run at speeds up to 60 kilometres an hour for short  bursts. This means it was amongst the fastest of all the dinosaurs. Who found the first Velociraptor fossils?</p><p>It was a medium sized dinosaur, about 1.5 to 2 metres long from snout to  Why do palaeontologists believe Velociraptor had feathers? tail tip, about 1 metre tall and weighed 7 to 15 kilograms. Its tail was very Understanding: stiff and actually had bones in it. This acted as a counter balance which Write down in your own words what these words mean: made the Velociraptor very good at making sharp turns and direction  commonality changes when it was running. It had a long flat snout with 80 very sharp teeth in its mouth. Its neck was an “s” shape and it had 2 arms both with  snout 3-clawed hands. The legs were long and slender and the feet had 4 very sharp curved retractable claws that were about 9 centimetres long.  manoeuvrability</p><p>Velociraptor was a deadly hunter. It ate anything that it could catch – but  palaeontologists mainly herbivorous dinosaurs. Its speed, manoeuvrability and its ability to Applying: jump gave it great advantages over slower dinosaurs. Once on its prey, it Complete this table. would slash and rip using the toe claws. There is some belief that they When it lived may have hunted in packs. Certainly it was one of the most intelligent Where it lived dinosaurs. Height & Length Weight The first fossil of a Velociraptor was found in Mongolia in 1924 by H F Teeth & Claws Osborne. Since then, about a dozen other fossil skeletons have been Hunting techniques found in Asia. One complete skeleton was found locked into the skeleton Analysing: of a Protoceratops it had died in a battle with. Match these sub headings with the correct paragraph. . Physical Appearance Velociraptor was probably warm-blooded and many palaeontologists believed that Velociraptor was a member of the bird family – as a . Is it a Bird? flightless bird, but this was very difficult to prove. In 2007 a fossil . Introduction skeleton was found that showed clear evidence of “quill knobs”. These are bumps on bird wing bones where feathers are attached. It is now . Fossils generally accepted that Velociraptor had feathers. . The Hunter . One of the Fastest</p><p>Evaluating: What information is missing from this text? Think of at least 2 more sub headings that could contain additional information. Creating: Draw a diagram of Velociraptor and label its features.</p>