(Latin velox = "swift" + Latin raptor = "robber") Size: 2 meters (7 feet) Period: Late Cretaceous and early Campanian (85 million to 80 million years ago)
Place: Mongolia, China, Russia A swift predator with long claws and sharp teeth, the "Raptor" was originally intended as dinner for the more popular Tyrannosaur. While its larger counterpart has adopted a more sedentary lifestyle, however, the flat-snouted Raptor has grabbed the limelight. With surprising smarts, disproportionately large eyes and a love of the hunt, this beast has both amazed and terrified the Park's visitors.
Environment: Due to its violent nature, the Raptor has been confined to its own pen, composed of grassy plains and a small lake.
Feeding: While the Raptor will eat almost any meat, it seems to prefer fresh kill. The live cows that are occasionally released into the pen invariably meet the same fate. After being cornered by a coordinated attack, the hapless cow is generally gripped by the Raptors' long fingers, slashed open by a the razor-sharp, sickle-shaped claws adorning the Raptors' feet, then gnawed to death by the creatures' abundant teeth.
Habits: Crafty and cunning, these creatures are killing machines. While their apparent intelligence is perhaps overrated, there's little doubt that these creatures cooperate together out of a single, common desire: the love of the hunt.
Ops Notes: One of the Park's biggest surprises, no one - including Hammond - seems to know what to do with the cunning Raptor. Until some final decision can be reached, the creature remains segregated from the other dinosaurs in its own pen. The Raptor has proven to be of great interest to the scientists in Genetics, whose numerous experiments upon the creature reflect a desire to learn more about its dark motivations.