Velociraptors Aren't Invited To Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving looming, so too does the annual question: what can you replace a turkey with? Some prefer a simple ham, or chicken or even tofurky. And let's not forget the unholy abomination that stands as proof of God's neglect, the TurDucKen.

All these replacements have a few basic requirements: be hot, taste like meat, and be roughly turkey-sized.

What if I told you that tofurky and Turducken have more in common with Velociraptors than Jurassic Park ever did...

In what seems to be a consistent pattern on this blog, our boy Velociraptor evolved through the late Cretaceous period. The species roamed throughout prehistoric Asia with specimens being found in both Inner and Outer Mongolia.

It was a ferocious and deadly predator whose grisly attacks strike fear into the hearts of young paleontology interns to this day. With its strong, bipedal hind legs, Velociraptor could swiftly--and without warning--tackle and strike its prey; immobilizing them under its weight. Then, and only then, would Velociraptor sink its distinctive sickle-shaped hind claws into its prey. Scientists disagree with Jurassic Park's idea that Velociraptor used its claw to disembowel its prey. It's more likely that it would puncture the throats of its prey--severing key arteries and hastening fatal blood loss.

Although Dr. Grant did get one thing right--you are still alive when it starts to eat you...

Now picture all that but packaged up into the deadliest, angriest turkey you've ever seen--that's the real Velociraptor.

Along with being turkey-sized, it was also covered head to toe in feathers like a modern bird; with longer feathers on its front limbs like wings. Paleontologists suspected that Velociraptor had grown feathers for decades based on the feathered evidence of some of its ancestors. But it was only just recently confirmed in 2007 when scientists found the fossilized remains of quill knobs on a specimen's arms. Quill knobs are the places on a bird's bones where the feathers anchor onto the body.

Discoveries like these are ushering in a new renaissance in how we think about dinosaurs--what they were and what they became.

I could close out this post with that, but, as a special Thanksgiving present from me to you, treat yourself to reading about the most bad-ass Velociraptor fossil ever found. Period. You're welcome.

Top left: Photo by Peter Lloyd on Unsplash

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