The Claw Shaped Like a Sickle

About this drawing

If you could watch a running velociraptor, the first thing you would notice is the big curved claw on each foot. That sickle-shaped talon was held off the ground as it moved, so it stayed sharp and ready for action, like a switchblade waiting to flick open.

For years, people assumed the claw sliced prey wide open. Later tests with a robotic replica suggested it was better at puncturing than cutting. Many scientists now think it worked more like the talons of a hawk or an eagle, pinning a victim down while the hunter held on with its body weight.

The most dramatic evidence came out of Mongolia's Gobi Desert in 1971. It's called the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil, and it shows a velociraptor and a Protoceratops locked in combat. The raptor's claw is jammed against its opponent's neck, while its arm is caught in the other animal's beak. A collapsing sand dune likely buried them in the middle of the fight.

To stay balanced while cornering at speed, this hunter had a stiff tail braced by bony rods, which helped it turn sharply without tipping over. That frozen moment of combat is still one of the most famous fossils anywhere, a real snapshot from about 75 million years ago.

• dinosaurs
• velociraptor
• claws
• fossils