Two dinosaurs, caught mid-fight
A Velociraptor and a Protoceratops, buried together while they fought.
The fossil
The Fighting Dinosaurs were found in 1971 by a Mongolian-Polish expedition. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs The fossil is considered a national treasure of Mongolia. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs
The Velociraptor’s foot claw is in the Protoceratops’s throat, and the Velociraptor’s arm is crushed in the Protoceratops’s mouth. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur The Protoceratops fought back and broke the Velociraptor’s right arm. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs
The specimen is about 2.5 m (8 feet) across. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs The pair were found in red sandstone called the Djadokhta Formation, in the Gobi Desert. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs
It’s often called one of the greatest fossil specimens ever found. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy: Fighting Dinos The Natural History Museum calls it the most dramatic evidence ever found of two dinosaurs fighting. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
We haven’t found a public-domain or CC0 photo of the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil itself, so it isn’t pictured here. The American Museum of Natural History’s pages, linked in the sources, have photos.
Buried alive
The curved necks and tails suggest both were buried alive. Muscles relax when an animal dies, so a dead animal’s neck and tail would probably have straightened. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy: Fighting Dinos
The American Museum of Natural History favours a sand avalanche: a steep dune collapsing on them. A sandstorm would have taken too long, and quicksand would have left them flailing. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy: Fighting Dinos Scientists think rainstorms triggered sand avalanches like this, and other animals in the same rocks seem to have died trying to dig themselves out. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs
The Natural History Museum says they were buried by a sandstorm or a collapsing sand dune. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Who started it?
Nobody knows why they were fighting. Was Velociraptor hunting, or was it attacked by a territorial Protoceratops? Smithsonian Magazine: A dinosaur’s pterosaur lunch
If the Velociraptor was hunting, Button says it was probably desperate or inexperienced: carnivores rarely attack something bigger unless it’s sick, injured or old. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur Perhaps Protoceratops started it. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
The American Museum of Natural History’s OLogy card says Velociraptor preyed on dinosaurs like Protoceratops and probably started the fight. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs Some scientists believe Protoceratops was defending its nest. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs
Some of the Protoceratops’s bones are missing. They may have eroded away, or the Velociraptor may have been eating an animal that was already dead. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy: Fighting Dinos
So what do we know?
Button: “All we can say with some certainty is that these two dinosaurs had a fight before they were engulfed in sand.” Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Velociraptor and Protoceratops were similar lengths, but Protoceratops was much bulkier. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur Despite the famous fossil, it seems very unlikely that Velociraptor regularly hunted grown-up Protoceratops. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
How old?
The Natural History Museum puts both dinosaurs at some 74 to 70 million years ago. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur · checked 28 Oct 2026 The American Museum of Natural History dates the Fighting Dinosaurs to about 80 million years ago. American Museum of Natural History, OLogy card 038: Fighting Dinosaurs · checked 28 Oct 2026
The two museums give different dates. We haven’t found a source that explains the gap, so we show both.
Next: discovery →