Velociraptor, the "Speedy Thief," is an insanely popular dinosaur due to its star status in popular movies. However, the real Velociraptor is very different from the man-sized, scaly monsters depicted by Hollywood. True Velociraptors were unimposingly small, only two meters long and one and a half meters tall. They also had feathers, like a bird. Functionally, these feathers likely helped to attract potential mates, cover nests while brooding, increase speed while running uphill, and maintain balance while hunting. Discovered in modern day Mongolia, the Velociraptor lived in arid environments consisting of mainly sand dunes. It lived during the late Cretaceous Period but disappeared before the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. During its tenure on Earth, the Velociraptor scoured the deserts for vulnerable prey, such as its famous adversary, Protoceratops. It hunted and killed small prey with a method called "raptor prey restraint," in which it attacked the prey, pinned it down, and started to eat it alive. The "RPR" method helps to explain the purpose of the iconic dromeosaur sickle-claws: holding on! Another possible use for these claws may have been climbing trees, which would certainly mean some poor animals experienced death from above.