Despite their memorable depiction in the Jurassic Park movie franchise, velociraptor dinosaurs likely did not use their sharp claws for slashing prey but instead to pin and grasp them, according to a new study.
The research, published earlier this month in the Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science, observed the modern-day red-legged seriema, a South American predatory bird which has a sharp, curved claw similar to the “raptor” group of dinosaurs, including the velociraptor, deinonychus, and the utahraptor.
