--- title: Raptors: the real Velociraptor, claws, feathers and film mistakes — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Raptors: the real Velociraptor, claws, feathers and film mistakes», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In the films, raptors are as tall as a man, scaly, and clever enough to open doors, but the real Velocir --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Raptors: the real Velociraptor, claws,… # Raptors: the real Velociraptor, claws, feathers and film mistakes Lesson 268 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/0/) — In the films, raptors are as tall as a man, scaly, and clever enough to open doors, but the real Velociraptor was about the size of a turkey and covered in feathers. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/1/) — Bumps on a Velociraptor arm bone, called quill knobs, show exactly where big feathers were fixed, just as on a bird's wing bone today. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/2/) — Its famous curved toe claw was held up off the ground and used like a hook to pin prey down, the way a hawk grips a rabbit, rather than as a knife. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/3/) — A real fossil shows a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops locked in a fight 75 million years ago, buried in a moment, probably when a sand dune collapsed on them. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/5/) — The real Velociraptor was about the size of a turkey and had feathers; the film raptors were based on a bigger relative, Deinonychus. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/6/) — Quill knobs on a Velociraptor arm bone show where large feathers were attached; small feathers leave no knobs, so a bone without knobs does not prove an animal had no feathers. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/7/) — Raptors held their big curved toe claw off the ground while walking and probably used it to pin down prey, like hawks today. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/8/) — The fighting dinosaurs fossil shows a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops buried mid-fight, probably by a collapsing sand dune, about 75 million years ago. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/9/) — Utahraptor was about 6 metres long and as heavy as a polar bear, and lived earlier than Velociraptor; most raptors were small. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/10/) — Raptors had fairly large brains for dinosaurs, like some birds, but there is no proof they were cleverer than dogs or planned attacks together. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/11/) — A few trackways show raptors walking together, but the evidence for pack hunting is thin, so scientists keep an open mind. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/12/) — Oviraptor was named «egg thief» because it was found on a nest, but later finds showed it was sitting on its own eggs like a hen. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/13/) — Microraptor had long feathers on its arms and legs, could glide between trees, and its feathers were shiny black like a starling's, which scientists could tell from tiny colour-holding shapes kept in the fossil feathers. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/14/) — Most raptors could not fly, because their arms were too short; their feathered arms helped with balance, display and covering eggs, and feathers came before flight. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/268-raptors-the-real-velociraptor/16/) — A raptor's foot and a chicken's foot have three main toes forward and a small toe at the back, built from the same bones. - ← previous: [Horns, frills, plates and clubs: Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus and the duck-bills](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/267-horns-frills-plates-and-clubs/) - next →: [Feathered dinosaurs: from Archaeopteryx to the chicken on your plate](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/269-feathered-dinosaurs-archaeopteryx-to-chicken/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)