The Velociraptors Might Have Had Feathers

The small velociraptor dinsosaur may have been made popular by the movie adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel, Jurassic Park. Recent scientific discoveries involving the small dinosaurs may not be as exciting as watching actors get eaten by the small predators on the movie screen, but the news that the small lizard may have had feathers is indeed important to those who believe that the velociraptor should continue to be included among the ranks of dinosaurs.

The velociraptor is a member of the genus dromaeosauried theroopod. Only one species of the velociraptor, the mongoliensis is recognized today, but other species of velociraptors had previously been thought to exist. The mongoliensis species obtains its scientific name from the locations where the skeletons are most commonly found, Outer Mongolia and Central Asia.

A recent re-assessment of a velociraptor forearm has found that the small lizards, if lizards they were, contained quill knobs on the bones. Quill knobs are a feature found in modern day birds where the secondary feathers attach to the bird's skeleton. The finding of quill knobs on velociraptor skeletons means that the dinosaur had feathers.

The movie Jurassic Park portrays them as vicious, effective predators with lizard like skin. Whether or not velociraptors were vicious is hard to prove as they were lived 65 million years ago. The structure of velociraptor skeletons found to date indicates that the animal could not fly but the feathers might have been used for temperature control, courtship displays, or to help the animal maneuver while running according to the BBC.

This may be badad news for Stephen Spielberg or whoever does the remakes of the Jurassic Park films in the future, but it adds further proof to the idea that certain types of dinosaurs evolved into modern day birds. At least the pack aspect of velociraptor hunts will not have to change, but a completely different looking version of the velociraptor may have to be substituted. In the meantime, there is a useful site to help crack down and prevent vicious attacks from the small dinosaurs that can be found at www.velociraptors.info. It is too bad the quiz visitors to the web site can take to determine if they need to be concerned about their neighbor's hiding some terrible reptile or perhaps avian secret does not work properly.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velociraptor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7004727.stm