Bambiraptor

dinosaur · bird-like · predator · tiny

Smaller than a cat. Bambiraptor was less than one meter (about 3 feet) long, making it one of the tiniest meat-eating dinosaurs ever discovered. Scientists think the fossil they found might actually be a young dinosaur that would have grown bigger.

Dromaeosaur dinosaur. Bambiraptor belonged to a group of dinosaurs called dromaeosaurs that had feathers and looked more like birds than the giant T-rex we imagine. These intelligent hunters had special curved claws on their feet.

Named after Bambi. This dinosaur got its funny name because it was so small and cute-looking, just like the Disney character Bambi. The full scientific name is Bambiraptor feinbergi, after both the movie and the family who found and donated the fossil.

A puzzle of bones. Scientists discovered something surprising when they studied the fossil: it might actually be made of bones from three different dinosaurs mixed together. This makes it tricky to know exactly what one real Bambiraptor looked like.

Montana fossil. The Bambiraptor skeleton was discovered in Montana and is now kept safe at the Graves Museum of Natural History in Florida where scientists can study it.