Velociraptors

The more that we learn about these animals the more we find that there is basically no difference between birds and their closely related dinosaur ancestors like Velociraptor. - Mark Norell

Velociraptor is a genus of small dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period.

Quotes

Pound for pound, these are among the most powerful of known predators; certainly no other theropod had such a combination of foot, hand, and head weaponry. - Gregory S. Paul

• Come ho estesamenente discusso in passato, non ci sono prove che questo teropode avesse un'intelligenza "da scimpanzé"..., né che cacciasse in branchi organizzati. Anche se banale da dire, esso non deve essere visto come una terrificante "macchina da morte" ma solamente come un interessante predatore diapside opportunista, molto probabilmente solitario e tendente all'agguato, con un comportamento ed un'intelligenza intermedi tra quelli dei coccodrilli e quelli dei grandi uccelli non volatori.
• As I've said numerous times before, there is no proof that this theropod had chimpanzee-level intelligence..., nor that it hunted in organised packs. It may seem obvious, but it shouldn't be seen as a terrifying "killing machine", but simply as an interesting and opportunistic diapsid predator which was most probably a solitary ambush hunter, with a behaviour and intelligence intermediate between that of crocodiles and large flightless birds.
  • Andrea Cau (2012), Theropoda volume II: Deinonychosauria, Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

• Nel caso non l'aveste ancora fatto, dimenticate i Velociraptor di Crichton e le loro assurde scimmiottaggini criminali: farete un favore alla memoria dei Velociraptor in penne e ossa!
• In case you haven't already done so, forget Crichton's Velociraptors and their absurd criminal plagiarisms: you'd be doing a favour to the real-life feathers-and-bones Velociraptor!
  • Andrea Cau (2012), Theropoda volume II: Deinonychosauria, Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.

• Yes, while T. rex played a prominent role in Crichton's pair of novels Jurassic Park (1990) and a sequel, The Lost World (1995), those nasty, sickle-clawed Velociraptors absolutely stole the show! The raptors took center stage in both novels and three Jurassic Park movies. But while no movie featured raptor dinosaurs before the Jurassic Park phenomenon, by then raptors had already stormed the beaches of science fiction literature... For besides fear and nightmares, now, simply the name Velociraptor - a dinosaur the name of which few knew thirty years ago - also evokes thoughts of DNA cloning, feathers and avian connections, warm-bloodedness, and even the softer side of familial relations. Now raptors are veritable monsters not only due to their inherent savagery, but also for their crafty, menacing intellect. Indeed, the raptors are imbued with qualities far too human-like for our comfort.
  • Allen A. Debus (2014) Dinosaurs in Fantastic Fiction: A Thematic Survey, McFarland, pp. 125-126

• Raptors did not actually resemble the reptilian monsters depicted in popular cinema, but were very large predatory ground birds, some with wings of substantial size (evidence of this comes from feather anchor points found on the wing bones of Velociraptor mongoliensis). The "raptors" did not closely resemble their carnosaurian cousins, but rather oversized Archaeopteryx.
  • Matthew P. Martyniuk (2012) A Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and other Winged Dinosaurs, PanAves, p. 76

• The more that we learn about these animals the more we find that there is basically no difference between birds and their closely related dinosaur ancestors like Velociraptor. Both have wishbones, brooded their nests, possess hollow bones, and were covered in feathers. If animals like velociraptor were alive today our first impression would be that they were just very unusual looking birds.
  • Mark Norell, as quoted in American Museum of Natural History "Velociraptor had feathers" ScienceDaily (September 20, 2007)

• These are among my very favourite dinosaurs. Their long up-curved skulls, slender yet compact proportions, and great sickle claws make these elegant, attractive, yet demonic animals. There is nothing else like them. Pound for pound, these are among the most powerful of known predators; certainly no other theropod had such a combination of foot, hand, and head weaponry... Among theropods only Tyrannosaurus, with its extreme skull strength, equalled Velociraptor in total power relative to weight.
  • Gregory S. Paul (1988) Predatory Dinosaurs of the World, Simon and Schuster, p. 362-363