Apatoraptor Temporal range: Campanian ~ | |
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Holotype fossil at Royal Tyrrell Museum | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Family: | † Caenagnathidae |
Genus: | † Apatoraptor Funston & Currie, 2016 |
Species: | †A. pennatus |
Binomial name | |
†Apatoraptor pennatus Funston & Currie, 2016 | |
Apatoraptor (meaning "deceptive thief") is a genus of caenagnathid dinosaur which contains a single species, A. pennatus. The only known specimen was discovered in the Campanian-age Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta. [1]
In 1993, at Drumheller in Alberta, three kilometres west of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology , a skeleton was found of a theropod. As it was initially identified as some unimportant ornithomimid specimen, preparation only started in 2002 and was almost immediately discontinued when no skull was thought to be present, the fossil again being covered in plaster. In 2008, research was resumed, and only then was it discovered that the fossil represented a species new to science. [1]
In 2016, the type species Apatoraptor pennatus was named and described by Gregory F. Funston and Philip John Currie. The generic name is derived from the Greek goddess of deceit, Apatè, and Latin raptor, "robber", in reference to the specimen hiding its true identity for many years. The specific name means "feathered" in Latin, referring to the find of quill knobs on the ulna, showing the animal had wings. [1]
The holotype TMP 1993.051.0001 was found in a layer of the Horsethief Member of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation dating from the Campanian. It consists of a partial skeleton with skull. The fossil was largely found articulated. It contains a palatine bone, the lower jaws, a hyoid, a complete series of neck and back vertebrae, ribs, the right shoulder girdle, the right arm, a sternum, belly ribs, a right ilium, a right thighbone, a right shinbone and a right calfbone. It was further investigated by means of a CAT-scan. [1]
Apatoraptor was, within the Oviraptorosauria, placed in the Caenagnathidae, in a derived position as a possible sister species of Elmisaurus . [1]
Albertosaurus is a genus of large tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in northwestern North America during the early to middle Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which the genus is named, although an indeterminate species has been discovered in the Corral de Enmedio and Packard Formations of Mexico. Scientists disagree on the content of the genus and some recognize Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species.
Philip John Currie is a Canadian palaeontologist and museum curator who helped found the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, Alberta and is now a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. In the 1980s, he became the director of the Canada-China Dinosaur Project, the first cooperative palaeontological partnering between China and the West since the Central Asiatic Expeditions in the 1920s, and helped describe some of the first feathered dinosaurs. He is one of the primary editors of the influential Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, and his areas of expertise include theropods, the origin of birds, and dinosaurian migration patterns and herding behavior. He was one of the models for palaeontologist Alan Grant in the film Jurassic Park.
Caenagnathasia is a small caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan.
Nomingia is a genus of oviraptorid theropod dinosaur hailing from the Late Cretaceous Bugin Tsav Beds of Mongolia.
Chirostenotes is a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada. The type species is Chirostenotes pergracilis.
Edmontonia is a genus of panoplosaurin nodosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It is part of the Nodosauridae, a family within Ankylosauria. It is named after the Edmonton Formation, the unit of rock where it was found.
Hagryphus is a monospecific genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from southern Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument. The type and only species, Hagryphus giganteus, is known only from an incomplete but articulated left manus and the distal portion of the left radius. It was named in 2005 by Lindsay E. Zanno and Scott D. Sampson. Hagryphus has an estimated length of 2.4–3 metres and weight of 50 kilograms.
Anodontosaurus is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaurs within the subfamily Ankylosaurinae. It is known from the entire span of the Late Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. It contains two species, A. lambei and A. inceptus.
Dyoplosaurus is a monospecific genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from Alberta that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Dinosaur Park Formation. Dyoplosaurus represents a close relative of Scolosaurus and Anodontosaurus, two ankylosaurids known from the Horseshoe Canyon and Dinosaur Park Formation.
Caenagnathus is a genus of caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period. It is known from partial remains including lower jaws, a tail vertebra, hand bones, and hind limbs, all found in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. Caenagnathus measured about 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long and weighed about 96–100 kg (212–220 lb).
Heyuannia is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, in what is now China and Mongolia. It was the first oviraptorid found in China; most others were found in neighbouring Mongolia. Two species are known: H. huangi, named by Lü Junchang in 2002 from the Dalangshan Formation; and H. yanshini, originally named as a separate genus Ingenia from the Barun Goyot Formation by Rinchen Barsbold in 1981, and later renamed to Ajancingenia in 2013 due to the preoccupation of Ingenia. The latter name was eventually discarded due to various ethical issues surrounding the author.
Elmisaurus is an extinct genus of caenagnathid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. It was a theropod belonging to the Oviraptorosauria.
The Horseshoe Canyon Formation is a stratigraphic unit of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in southwestern Alberta. It takes its name from Horseshoe Canyon, an area of badlands near Drumheller.
Caenagnathidae is a family of derived caenagnathoid dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of North America and Asia. They are a member of the Oviraptorosauria, and relatives of the Oviraptoridae. Like other oviraptorosaurs, caenagnathids had specialized beaks, long necks, and short tails, and would have been covered in feathers. The relationships of caenagnathids were long a puzzle. The family was originally named by Raymond Martin Sternberg in 1940 as a family of flightless birds. The discovery of skeletons of the related oviraptorids revealed that they were in fact non-avian theropods, and the discovery of more complete caenagnathid remains revealed that Chirostenotes pergracilis, originally named on the basis of a pair of hands, and Citipes elegans, originally thought to be an ornithomimid, named from a foot, were caenagnathids as well.
This timeline of oviraptorosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the oviraptorosaurs, a group of beaked, bird-like theropod dinosaurs. The early history of oviraptorosaur paleontology is characterized by taxonomic confusion due to the unusual characteristics of these dinosaurs. When initially described in 1924 Oviraptor itself was thought to be a member of the Ornithomimidae, popularly known as the "ostrich" dinosaurs, because both taxa share toothless beaks. Early caenagnathid oviraptorosaur discoveries like Caenagnathus itself were also incorrectly classified at the time, having been misidentified as birds.
Beibeilong is a genus of large caenagnathid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 96 million to 88 million years ago. The genus contains a single species, Beibeilong sinensis. The species was named and described in 2017 through analysis of an embryonic skeleton and partial nest with large eggs that were discovered in the Gaogou Formation of China between 1992 and 1993.
Leptorhynchos is an extinct genus of caenagnathid dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous Aguja Formation of west Texas United States. It lived about 80.5–72 million years ago. It is distinguished from its relatives Chirostenotes and Anzu by its smaller size, and by a more strongly upturned mandible, similar to that of oviraptorids. The specializations of the beak in Leptorhynchos and other caenagnathids suggest that they were herbivores. The species L. elegans has since been transferred to the genus Citipes, leaving only the type species L. gaddisi in the genus.
Xingtianosaurus is an extinct genus of oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now China during the Early Cretaceous. The type and only species, X. ganqi, was named and described in 2019. It was placed in the Caudipteridae, alongside Caudipteryx and Similicaudipteryx.
Citipes is an extinct genus of caenagnathid theropod from the Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada. The genus contains only one species, the type species, C. elegans. The generic name of Citipes is Latin for "fleet-footed", and the specific epithet "elegans" is Latin for "elegant". The type specimen of Citipes has a convoluted taxonomic history, and has been previously assigned to the genera Ornithomimus, Macrophalangia, Elmisaurus, Chirostenotes, and Leptorhynchos before being given its own genus in 2020.
Oksoko is a genus of oviraptorid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Asia, that lived in what is now the Nemegt Formation in Mongolia. It includes the type species Oksoko avarsan.