Discovery of Fighting Dinosaurs Fossil

Date: August 3, 1971 • Location: Hanhongor, Mongolia

Fighting Dinosaurs, a fossil specimen featuring a Velociraptor and a Protoceratops in combat, was unearthed in the Djadochta Formation of Mongolia.

The Fighting Dinosaurs is a fossil specimen found in the Late Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia in 1971. It preserves a Protoceratops andrewsi and Velociraptor mongoliensis locked in combat between 75 million and 71 million years ago and provides direct evidence of predatory or agonistic behaviour in non-avian dinosaurs. The specimen has caused much debate as to how both animals came to be preserved together with relative completeness. Several hypotheses have been proposed, including a drowning scenario, and burial by either dune collapse or sandstorm.