What scientists still argue about
Velociraptor is famous, but plenty about it is still open. Here is the evidence on each side, so you can see how palaeontologists weigh it up.
Jump to: Why they fought | The burial | Prey | Packs | Night | Nests | Feathers | When | Size
Why were the Fighting Dinosaurs fighting?
Nobody knows why they were fighting. Was Velociraptor hunting, or was it attacked by a territorial Protoceratops? Smithsonian Magazine: A dinosaur’s pterosaur lunch
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
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
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 In 2010, scientists reported Protoceratops bones scored by the teeth of a small predatory dinosaur, after the carcass had been almost stripped. Velociraptor is a good candidate for the scavenger. Smithsonian Magazine: A dinosaur’s pterosaur lunch
Where that leaves it: nobody knows. The American Museum of Natural History card leans towards Velociraptor starting it, the Natural History Museum thinks a hunting Velociraptor would have been desperate or inexperienced, and some scientists suspect scavenging.
What buried them?
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
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 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
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
Where that leaves it: sand, quickly, while both were alive. The American Museum of Natural History favours a collapsing dune over a sandstorm; the Natural History Museum gives both.
What did it mainly eat?
It probably ate mostly small mammals and reptiles that were easy to overpower and kill. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur Its narrow jaws and light build suggest it fed on quite small prey. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Osborn thought the claws were for holding prey, and that its long snout and wide gape meant the prey was alive and “of considerable size”. Osborn (1924), Three new Theropoda, Protoceratops zone, central Mongolia, American Museum Novitates 144
Scientists think it was more likely scavenged. Eating a large bone suggests there wasn’t much meat left on the carcass. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur “Pretty much all predators scavenge sometimes, and vice versa.” Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Where that leaves it: the modern view is mostly small animals, plus scavenging. Osborn’s 1924 idea of large live prey isn’t the view of the sources we read today.
Did it hunt in packs?
Despite the films, there’s very little evidence that raptors hunted as cooperative packs. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur · checked 28 Oct 2026 The pack idea came from several Deinonychus found around one much larger Tenontosaurus. They might have been scavenging, or simply washed together and buried. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Several Utahraptor were found with a plant eater called Hippodraco, probably after getting stuck in quicksand. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur Some trackways show several Velociraptor-sized dinosaurs walking the same way, which could mean flocking or following. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Komodo dragons and many birds of prey hunt by “mobbing”: one attacks, and others join in. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur There isn’t currently any evidence of Velociraptor hunting together in any way, though that doesn’t mean it never did. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur · checked 28 Oct 2026
Where that leaves it: no evidence yet for Velociraptor. The finds used to support packs in its relatives can be explained other ways.
Did it hunt at night?
Because of the large bony ring in its eye, some scientists have suggested Velociraptor was nocturnal. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
Big eyes once suggested night hunting for Microraptor too, but its glossy feathers make that less likely: no living bird with a shiny coat hunts at night. Natural History Museum: Microraptor (Dino Directory)
Where that leaves it: some scientists have suggested so, from its eyes. Big eyes alone don’t settle it.
Did it sit on its nest?
Some oviraptorosaurs, Velociraptor’s cousins, are preserved brooding over their eggs like a chicken. Velociraptor may have done the same, but no fossil proves it. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur · checked 28 Oct 2026
Norell also lists what birds and Velociraptor share: wishbones, brooding their nests, hollow bones and feathers. American Museum of Natural History: Velociraptor Had Feathers, Study Confirms, 2007
Where that leaves it: its cousins did. The Natural History Museum says no Velociraptor fossil proves it, while the American Museum of Natural History’s Mark Norell lists brooding among the things birds and Velociraptor share.
What were the feathers for?
The feathers may have been for display, for shielding nests, for keeping warm, or for help with turning while running. American Museum of Natural History: Velociraptor Had Feathers, Study Confirms, 2007
There is quite good evidence that dromaeosaurs ran warm, and feathers would have kept that heat in. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur It couldn’t fly. Its wishbone wasn’t the right shape for flapping wings, its wings were too small to glide, and its feathers were symmetrical, unlike a flying bird’s. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur
The 2007 study’s authors suggested that an ancestor of Velociraptor may have lost the ability to fly but kept its feathers. American Museum of Natural History: Velociraptor Had Feathers, Study Confirms, 2007
Where that leaves it: not flight. The sources suggest display, warmth, shielding nests and help with turning, and more than one could be true.
When did it live?
The Natural History Museum dates it to the Late Cretaceous, 74 to 70 million years ago. Natural History Museum: Velociraptor (Dino Directory) · checked 28 Oct 2026
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
Where that leaves it: the Late Cretaceous. The Natural History Museum gives 74 to 70 million years ago; an American Museum of Natural History card gives about 80 million years for the Fighting Dinosaurs.
How big and how heavy?
The Natural History Museum gives its length as 1.8 m and its weight as 7 kg. Natural History Museum: Velociraptor (Dino Directory) · checked 28 Oct 2026
The Velociraptor in the 2007 feather study stood about three feet (0.9 m) tall, was about five feet (1.5 m) long and weighed about 30 pounds (14 kg). American Museum of Natural History: Velociraptor Had Feathers, Study Confirms, 2007 · checked 28 Oct 2026
The Natural History Museum calls it a turkey-sized predator. Natural History Museum: Vicious Velociraptor: tales of a turkey-sized dinosaur Next to a grown-up, it would have been no more than waist-high. Smithsonian Magazine: You say “Velociraptor,” I say “Deinonychus”
Where that leaves it: small: around turkey-sized and no more than waist-high. The weight estimates differ, from 7 kg to about 30 pounds (14 kg).