In honour of today being National Velociraptor Awareness Day (yes, apparently that’s a real thing), here’s a list of fun facts about these fascinating dinos.
-The first velociraptor fossil was discovered in 1924 in the Mongolian Gobi Desert during an expedition led by Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History.
-Though fossils considered to be heavily related to the velociraptor have been found in Canada, no actual velociraptor bones have been discovered here, despite Alberta’s renowned reputation as being a gold mine for dinosaur bones.
-Popularity among velociraptors hit an all-time high following 1993’s release of Jurassic Park. It wasn’t until 20 years later however that the first National Velociraptor day was established, to be observed annually on April 18.
-Despite the title of the blockbuster from which they owe a lot of their popularity, velociraptors lived during the Cretaceous Period, some 74 million years ago. By contrast, the Jurassic Period took place 145 million years ago.
-They are believed to have been about 4.9 to 6.8 feet long and weighed an average of 31-43 pounds.
-The seriema, a bird found in South America, is considered to be the closest living relative to the velociraptor.