Velociraptor (meaning "swift seizer") is a dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 71 to 75 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Velociraptor was a mid-sized dromaeosaurid, with adults measuring up to 6.8 ft long, 1.6 ft high at the hip, and weighing up to 33 lbs. To date, all of the dozen or so identified Velociraptor specimens have been of solitary individuals. The idea that Velociraptor ganged up on its prey in cooperative packs probably stems from the discovery of associated Deinonychus remains in North America; this larger raptor may have hunted in packs in order to bring down big hadrosaurs like Tenontosaurus. Given its red-carpet treatment in Hollywood, you might expect Velociraptor to have been American but the fact is that this dinosaur lived in what is now modern-day Mongolia about 70 million years ago. Although its sharp teeth and clutching hands were certainly unpleasant, the primary weapons in Velociraptor's arsenal were the curved, three-inch-long claws on its hind feet, which it used to slash and jab at prey. Paleontologists surmise that this dinosaur stabbed its prey in the gut in sudden, surprise attacks, then withdrew to a safe distance as its victim bled to death. So Velociraptor didn't hunt in packs, and it wasn't particularly big, smart or speedy. Velociraptor mostly ate small dinosaurs like the pig-sized Protoceratops: one famous fossil displays a Velociraptor and Protoceratops locked in life-and-death combat as they were both buried alive by a sudden sandstorm (and by the evidence, it's far from obvious that Velociraptor had the upper hand). The Velociraptor's claim to pop-culture fame is based on a lie: Jurassic Park's special-effects people have long since confessed that they modeled their Velociraptor after the much bigger (and much more dangerous-looking) raptor Deinonychus, whose name isn't quite as catchy or as easy to pronounce, and which lived about 30 million years before its more famous relative. If life were fair, Deinonychus would be a much better-known dinosaur than Velociraptor. Extrapolating from the smaller, more primitive, feathered raptors that predated it by millions of years, paleontologists believe Velociraptor sported feathers, too, though the direct evidence for this is wanting. Artists have depicted this dinosaur as possessing everything from wan, chicken-like tufts to bright green plumage worthy of a South American parrot--and Velociraptor almost certainly wasn't lizard-skinned, as it's portrayed in the Jurassic Park movies.