Velociraptor mongoliensis

     The famous predator that became an icon via Jurassic Park, mostly because at the time he was writing, Michael Crichton believed Deinonychus was a species of Velociraptor which has led to the assumption that Velociraptor is much larger than it actually was. Most people that have read about dinosaurs know this is now untrue. Despite not being as large as the film version of itself, the real Velociraptor is no less formidable; It was a proven nocturnal hunter, very likely hunting in pairs if it was not a pack-hunter the way its cousin Deinonychus supposedly was, and at 33-40 pounds or so, it was about as large as a coyote. Its killing claws, measuring about 2.6 inches, would have measured almost twice the length if covered in the keratin sheath they sported in life, and it could use them to kick, stab and restrain its prey.
      Velociraptor is primarily known from the Djadochta and possibly the Barun Goyot formations of Mongolia. It shared its desert habitat with species such as Protoceratops (its most common prey item), Oviraptor, Citipati and Khaan, Pinacosaurus, and Plesiohadros, as well as the two other dromaeosaurs (Linheraptor and Tsaagan), troodonts such as Byronosaurus and perhaps even the Tyrannosaurids Tarbosaurus or Zhuchengtyrannus. Velociraptor is well-known in the fossil record, and two specimens have been even preserved with prey, the first being the spectacular "Fighting Dinosaurs" specimen, which shows a Velociraptor and Protoceratops locked in combat as they were killed by a collapsing sand dune, and the second, a Velociraptor that was killed scavenging a dead Protoceratops.  
     

Done in Artrage, using oil brush, pencil and airbrush. My best attempts at blending and shading thus far. Background courtesy of stockf8: stockf8.deviantart.com