Saurornitholestes
Saurornitholestes langstoni
Pronounced: sore-Orn-ith-oh-less-tees
Diet: Carnivore (Meat-Eater)
Name Means: "Lizard Bird Robber"
Length: 6 feet (2 m)
Height: 2 feet (.7 m)
Weight: 50 pounds (21 kilos)
Time: Late Cretaceous - 76 MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in North America
Saurornitholestes was
a small but fierce
hunter and a member of
the raptor family of
dinosaurs that includes
the famous Velociraptor.
In fact, some scientists
think that
Saurornitholestes may
actually be a
Velociraptor
Unfortunately, not
enough of its skeleton
has been found to make
any absolute decisions.
The partial skull fragments of Saurornitholestes seem to indicate an extremely close relationship with Velociraptor, but its body remains, which are very incomplete, more closely resemble Deinonychus. An interesting discovery was made of a Saurornitholestes tooth imbedded in a pterosaur bone. The pterosaur was a fairly large individual so scientists believe the smaller dinosaur most likely scavenged the carcass. At the time of its discovery, this was the first reported fossil bone discovered with a predator's tooth actually preserved in it. |
