Microvenator

Microvenator was a small, early oviraptorosaurian dinosaur discovered in the Lower Cretaceous strata of Montana and Wyoming. Found within the Cloverly Formation, the partial holotype skeleton was originally unearthed by Barnum Brown in 1933 but only formally named decades later by John Ostrom in 1970. Reaching between one and two metres long, it was a lightweight animal with hollow bones and long hindlimbs built for rapid movement. While earlier researchers considered it an enigmatic coelurosaur or small predator, anatomical analyses place Microvenator near the base of the oviraptorosaur lineage. It possessed grasping forelimbs and likely fed on an omnivorous diet that included eggs, small lizards, insects, and nutritious plant parts. As one of the few known Early Cretaceous oviraptorosaurs in North America, Microvenator provides crucial evolutionary clues about the early history of this feathered theropod group.

Barnum Brown informally referred to the type specimen as Megadontosaurus because he mistakenly associated large teeth from Deinonychus with it.

Where and when

Microvenator lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 115 to 108 million years ago (Aptian-Albian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Cloverly Formation.

The numbers

Length 1.4 m (estimates run from 1.2 to 1.6 m). Mass about 7.7 kg. Hip height about 0.5 m. That is 0.8 human-lengths, or 0.13 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

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