The Velociraptor Hunting Dance

Velociraptor mongoliensis surely went after larger prey like Protoceratops at least occasionally, as we have fossil evidence that it certainly did so. However, like many modern mid-sized carnivores, its diet probably consisted of a large proportion of much smaller animals, which it may have ambushed or sniffed out of crevices. I imagine such a predation event would have been rather felid in nature, wherein the animal displayed a curious mixture of predatory grace and pure silly ridiculousness as it bounced and flailed after a frantic prey animal. In this case the prey in question is Zalambdalestes, a small shrewlike eutherian from the Djadochta Formation of Inner Mongolia.

This scenario - a pair of Velociraptors on a hunt - is something I've illustrated twice before, the first time in 2005 and the second in 2009. Hopefully the third time's the charm, since the first two are hideous.

This is a digital (Photoshop CS4 + Wacom tablet) and oil paint composite illustration, and will be eventually published in ~Agahnim's and my book on the creation vs. evolution debate. As always, I have ~Agahnim to thank for being a lot of help with shading and compositional critiques.