Caenagnathasia

Caenagnathasia was a miniature oviraptorosaurian theropod that lived during the Turonian stage of the Late Cretaceous in modern Uzbekistan. Known primarily from fragmentary lower jaw bones discovered in the Bissekty Formation, it stands out as one of the earliest and smallest confirmed members of the Caenagnathidae. At less than one metre in length and weighing only a couple of kilograms, it was roughly the size of a modern pheasant or domestic cat. The toothless jaws featured sharp ridges that would have been covered by a keratinous beak in life, adapted for shearing food. Given its small stature and generalized beak structure, Caenagnathasia likely fed opportunistically on insects, small vertebrates, seeds, and soft leaves. Its presence in Central Asia offers crucial insight into the early diversification and biogeography of oviraptorosaurs prior to their radiation into larger forms across North America.

It is one of the smallest and geologically oldest caenagnathid dinosaurs known anywhere in the world.

Where and when

Caenagnathasia lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 92 to 90 million years ago (Turonian age). Its remains come from Uzbekistan, in the Bissekty Formation.

The numbers

Length 0.8 m (estimates run from 0.6 to 1 m). Mass about 1.7 kg. Hip height about 0.3 m. That is 0.5 human-lengths, or 0.07 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from fragmentary remains; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.

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