What are quill knobs?

Bumps on bones where large feathers attach

What does the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil show?

A Velociraptor locked with a Protoceratops

How did Jurassic Park's raptors differ from real Velociraptor?

They were much larger and featherless

Feathered Dinosaurs Quiz: Velociraptor's Quill Knobs

Movies showed scaly raptors, but fossils tell a fluffier story, and this feathered dinosaurs quiz explains the evidence. Play 10 interactive questions on quill knobs, the 2007 Velociraptor study, Sinosauropteryx, Liaoning fossils, Archaeopteryx, four-winged Microraptor, Yutyrannus, color from melanosomes, the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil and Jurassic Park's raptors.

Start Feathered Dinosaurs Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Knobs
What are quill knobs?
Raptor
On which Velociraptor bone were quill knobs reported in 2007?
First
Which dinosaur, described in 1996, was the first non-bird dinosaur found with feather-like filaments?
China
Which Chinese province is famous for feathered dinosaur fossils?
Archie
Which feathered fossil was found in Germany in 1861?
Four
Which small dinosaur had feathered wings on all four limbs?
Big
Which large tyrannosaur relative was found with feathers?
Color
How can scientists estimate feather colors?
Fight
What does the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil show?
Movie
How did Jurassic Park's raptors differ from real Velociraptor?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What are quill knobs?
Answer: Bumps on bones where large feathers attach
Birds have them today.
Q2: On which Velociraptor bone were quill knobs reported in 2007?
Answer: The forearm bone, the ulna
It suggested wing-like feathers.
Q3: Which dinosaur, described in 1996, was the first non-bird dinosaur found with feather-like filaments?
Answer: Sinosauropteryx
It came from China.
Q4: Which Chinese province is famous for feathered dinosaur fossils?
Answer: Liaoning
Fine volcanic ash preserved details.
Q5: Which feathered fossil was found in Germany in 1861?
Answer: Archaeopteryx
It links dinosaurs and birds.
Q6: Which small dinosaur had feathered wings on all four limbs?
Answer: Microraptor
It may have glided.
Q7: Which large tyrannosaur relative was found with feathers?
Answer: Yutyrannus
Its name means feathered tyrant.
Q8: How can scientists estimate feather colors?
Answer: From fossil melanosomes
Microraptor appears iridescent black.
Q9: What does the Fighting Dinosaurs fossil show?
Answer: A Velociraptor locked with a Protoceratops
It was found in Mongolia in 1971.
Q10: How did Jurassic Park's raptors differ from real Velociraptor?
Answer: They were much larger and featherless
Real ones were about turkey-sized.

Feathered Dinosaurs Quiz – Velociraptor's Quill Knobs

Many dinosaurs had feathers. In 2007 scientists reported quill knobs, bumps where large feathers attach, on a Velociraptor forearm bone, showing it had wing-like feathers even though it could not fly.

In 1996 Sinosauropteryx from Liaoning, China, became the first non-bird dinosaur found with feather-like filaments. Earlier, Archaeopteryx, discovered in Germany in 1861, had linked dinosaurs and birds. Microraptor had feathered wings on all four limbs, and Yutyrannus was a large feathered tyrannosaur relative.

Fossil melanosomes reveal colors; Microraptor appears iridescent black. Real Velociraptors were about turkey-sized, unlike Jurassic Park's large, scaly raptors. The Fighting Dinosaurs fossil shows one locked in battle with a Protoceratops.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dinosaur fans will enjoy these questions.

What quill knobs are
Which fossils show feathers
Where they were found
How colors are known
How movies got raptors wrong

Did You Know?

Birds are living dinosaurs.
Feathers may first have evolved for warmth or display.
Jurassic Park's raptors were modeled on Deinonychus.
Some fossils preserve feathers in amber.
Velociraptor lived in what is now Mongolia.