Tens of millions of years have passed, and these two Cretaceous dinosaurs are still fighting

In 1971, paleontologists discovered two extremely rare dinosaur fossils. Not only were they very well preserved, they also retained their fighting postures, so the fossils were named "Fighting Dinosaurs".

Fighting dinosaur fossils | Yuya Tamai / Wikimedia Commons

Due to factors such as climate and environment, the remains of most organisms will disappear over time. Fossils are very rare, and well-preserved and complete ones are even rarer. But time seems to have frozen in the "fighting dinosaurs", allowing us to travel through time and space and see the scenes of dinosaurs fighting in the Cretaceous period.

Little devil hunting

The two creatures fighting in this amazing fossil are not of the same species.

Fighting dinosaur replicas | Wikimedia Commons

The dinosaur on the left is slightly larger, like a big toad with a long tail. There is a shield-like structure on the top of its big head, and its hooked beak like a parrot is biting the right forelimb of the other dinosaur fiercely. The dinosaur on the right is much slimmer, with a small and slender head, and its left leg is kicking the other dinosaur hard. It seems that the big dinosaur on the left is preying on the small dinosaur on the right, and the latter is trying hard to escape the attack of the big dinosaur... As a layman, I can't help but exclaim: It's so brutal!

However, is this really the case?

A careful observation reveals that the victim has teeth as sharp as daggers in his mouth. Moreover, the foot that kicked his opponent has a curved and sharp toe that has pierced the body of the abuser. In contrast, the abuser's teeth reveal his vegetarian identity. This painting composed of fossils actually describes a story of a little devil hunting. The real names of the hunter and the captured are: Velociraptor mongoliensis and Protoceratops andrewsi.

Artistic reconstruction of Velociraptor mongolica | Jorge Aragon Paleoartiata /Flickr

Artist's reconstruction of Protoceratops Andrewsii | Paleo Neolitic / Wikimedia Commons

Fighting ability that is contrary to its size

Velociraptor is about 1.8 meters long, weighs about 20 kilograms, and stands about 1 meter tall. On its slender head, there is a pair of large eyes that can form three-dimensional vision, indicating that this is a dinosaur with very keen senses.

Comparison of an adult Velociraptor and a human | Paleo Neolitic / Wikimedia Commons

The edges of Velociraptor's teeth have tiny serrations, which allows it to easily bite off a piece of meat from its prey. Another important weapon is its curved second toe, which has a claw about 10 cm long and is covered with a sharp keratin sheath. If the prey's weak abdomen is kicked by it, it is likely to be disemboweled.

Artistic reconstruction of Velociraptor | Jorge Aragon Paleoartiata /Flickr

In terms of size, Protoceratops is larger than Velociraptor. The Protoceratops in this fossil is about 2 meters long, but its sturdy body is more than an order of magnitude heavier than Velociraptor, probably close to 100 kilograms. The largest Protoceratops can be close to 4.5 meters long and weigh up to 800 kilograms.

Rendering of the Protoceratops skeleton | Scott Hartman / Wikimedia Commons

Although the hooked beak of Protoceratops looks dangerous, it may have evolved only to bite off plant roots. It uses a fan-shaped "neck shield" on its head to defend against attacks. This structure can protect the fragile neck, and there are two large holes on the neck shield to reduce weight.

The hooked beak of a Protoceratops, female on the left, male on the right | Paleo Neolitic / Wikimedia Commons

Witness the moment of the fight

Facing such a rare fossil, I can't help but imagine how two dinosaurs fought tens of millions of years ago.

In Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous, yellow sand covered the sky. A lone Velociraptor was walking in the desert. It was separated from its group and was suffering from hunger. The weather was so bad that all the small animals disappeared.

Mongolian Desert | pixabay

Suddenly, it saw a Protoceratops in the distance. Protoceratops was bigger than itself and not easy to deal with. But it was so hungry that it had to take the risk. It used the terrain and the sound of wind and sand as cover to quickly approach the Protoceratops, suddenly rushed out from the side and pounced on its prey. The Protoceratops was frightened by the sudden Velociraptor, but when it realized the danger was coming, the Velociraptor had already jumped onto its back and stabbed its body with its sharp claws.

The Protoceratops desperately shook its body to get rid of the Velociraptor, and then began to run away. However, after running a few steps, it was out of breath, and the Velociraptor was chasing it relentlessly. Seeing that there was no hope of escape, the Protoceratops had no choice but to run to the bottom of the sand dune, leaning against the sand dune and facing the Velociraptor, opening its horny beak and roaring at the Velociraptor.

Artistic reconstruction of fighting dinosaurs | Raul Martin / Wikimedia Commons

The two dragons confronted each other for an unknown amount of time. The wind and sand became stronger and stronger, and the sun was almost completely blocked by the sand. The Velociraptor could no longer wait, and it rushed to the right side of the Protoceratops. When the Protoceratops was about to resist, the Velociraptor suddenly used a feint and turned to attack the exposed left side of the Protoceratops. Its sharp toes avoided the Protoceratops's neck shield and pierced straight into the side of its neck, causing blood to spurt out.

The Protoceratops was not prepared to surrender, it turned its head and charged at the Velociraptor, trying to hold the little devil with its head. The Velociraptor's front claws began to frantically scratch the Protoceratops' face, but the Protoceratops opened its mouth and bit the Velociraptor's right forelimb tightly... The battle was fierce and the outcome was hard to determine, but no one expected that at this moment, the huge sand dune next to it suddenly fell, burying the unfortunate Velociraptor and the Protoceratops together...

Original photo of the excavation site from 1971 | T. Jerzykiewicz / Wikimedia Commons

Of course, many details in this story are my own imagination. The long years have eroded the flesh and blood of the two dinosaurs, blurring the cause and effect that we cannot verify; why they were able to be frozen in the posture when they died has not yet been determined.

But we are lucky enough to witness the fighting moments of these extinct species tens of millions of years ago.