Dinosaurs / Cretaceous / Saurornithoides
Saurornithoides
Cretaceous sawr-OR-nith-OY-deez, “bird-like reptile”
Saurornithoides was an active, bird-like predatory dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Reaching between two and two and a half metres in length, this slender bipedal troodontid weighed approximately thirty kilograms. It was equipped with long, lithe hind limbs for swift running and large, stereoscopic eyes that provided sharp depth perception for locating prey. The skull featured closely packed, serrated teeth suited to catching lizards, mammals, and small dinosaurs, though some plant matter may also have been consumed. Found in arid dune environments, Saurornithoides was closely related to North American forms like Stenonychosaurus. Its high brain-to-body size ratio indicates it was one of the more neurologically complex predators of its ecosystem.
Discovered during the famous Central Asiatic Expeditions led by the American Museum of Natural History.
Where and when
Saurornithoides lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 75 to 71 million years ago (Campanian age). Its remains come from Mongolia, in the Djadokhta Formation.
The numbers
Length 2.3 m (estimates run from 2 to 2.5 m). Mass about 30 kg. Hip height about 0.8 m. That is 1.4 human-lengths, or 0.21 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, first ma, last ma, hip height.