Velociraptor Killing Claw Fossil

$10.00

Velociraptor’s first claw on each foot was small, and positioned away from the main foot. The second claw was the key adaptation that enabled Velociraptor to become such an effective hunter. It was an enlarged, sickle-shaped, razor-sharp weapon.

Description

Velociraptor Killing Claw Fossil Replica measures 2.2 in. Velociraptor Killing Claw Fossil is museum quality polyurethane cast. Made in the USA. Velociraptor mongoliensis is the scientific name. Our precise Claw can be used as a teaching tool, museum claw exhibit, home décor claw, or office décor claw.

Velociraptor mongoliensis meaning “swift seizer” is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the latter part of the Cretaceous Period. The Velociraptor mongoliensis was a bipedal, feathered carnivore with a long tail and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot.

Velociraptor mongoliensis can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout. Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert raptor of China and Mongolia. Early specimen found in 1923. Late Cretaceous Gobi Desert raptor of China and Mongolia.

Velociraptor mongoliensis, like other dromaeosaurids, had a large manus (‘hand’) with three strongly curved claws, which were similar in construction and flexibility to the wing bones of modern birds. The second digit was the longest of the three digits present, while the first was shortest.

The structure of the wrist bones prevented pronation of the wrist and forced the ‘hands’ to be held with the palmar surface facing inwards, not downwards. The first digit of the foot, as in other theropods, was a small dewclaw.

Velociraptor mongoliensis walked on only their third and fourth digits. The second digit, for which Velociraptor mongoliensis is most famous, was highly modified and held retracted off the ground. It bore a relatively large, sickle-shaped claw, typical of dromaeosaurid and troodontid dinosaurs. This enlarged claw, which could grow to over 2.6 in. long around its outer edge, was most likely a predatory device used to tear into or restrain struggling prey.

Today, Velociraptor mongoliensis is well known to paleontologists, with over a dozen described fossil skeletons, the most of any dromaeosaurid. One particularly famous specimen preserves a Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops.

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Additional information

Weight 1 lbs
Dimensions 2.2 in
Velociraptor Facts:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Dromaeosauridae
Subfamily: †Velociraptorinae
Genus: †Velociraptor
Type species: †Velociraptor mongoliensis
Species: †V. mongoliensis
Conservation Status: Extinct