How Long did the Velociraptor Live?

There are a couple of different angles to finding out the life span of the Velociraptor.

Lifespan

Normally, when we are talking about how long some sort of ancient creature lives, we are thinking about the lifespan of the creature. However, at this current time, scientists do not know how long individual velociraptors lived for. You must remember that this species died out long, long ago. Therefore, we are lucky that scientists are able to figure out as much as they have about velociraptors. Hopefully, one day though, we will be able to learn how long these creatures lived.

Species as a Whole

If you are talking about how long the species lived for, then there is a much more specific answer. Velociraptors appeared on the scene approximately eighty million years ago, which was during the Cretaceous Period. Their remains have  been found in Eastern Asia, most specifically Russia, China, and Mongolia. They survived for awhile, and lived throughout most of the Cretaceous Period.

Unfortunately, as with the rest of these dinosaurs, their species had to come to an end. Approximately 65 million years ago, during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction incident, the Velociraptors ceased to exist. Therefore, the Velociraptor lived and thrived for approximately 15 million years.

What Was the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction?

Now that we have told you when the Velociraptor died out as a species, you are probably wonder about this event or incident that caused their demise. While scientists have determined that there was some sort of occurrence that caused this species and many, many other types of both plant and animal life to die out during this time period, they have not yet necessarily pinpointed an exact cause or figured out precisely what happened that caused this massive extinction.

In order to give you a general overview of what scientists think happened to these species, we have provided a bit of information on each of the current prevailing theories.

• One of the theories that people are most familiar with is the impact event. Some scientists believe that an asteroid struck the earth, killing all of its life.
• Another theory is that Deccan Traps flood basalts caused their death over a period of time. Scientists who follow this theory believe that certain particles were released into the air, blocking sunlight and reducing photosynthesis. However, in recent years, this theory has become less well received, and people are beginning to think that this event is not what occurred.
• One suggestion that allows along with the first is the idea that multiple impacts occurred during the time from objects in space, eventually destroying the whole environment of the dinosaurs.
• At the end of the Cretaceous Period, sea levels fell drastically. This event could have killed off marine life and eventually caused life altering and ending climate changes for the rest of ecology.
• Yet another theory is that several of these forces worked together to destroy the creatures known as dinosaurs.

As you can see, determining certain facts about the Velociraptors-or any other species of dinosaur-is particularly difficult since they reigned so very long ago.