Saurornitholestes

Saurornitholestes was one of the most common small carnivores in Late Cretaceous North America, living approximately 75 million years ago. 8 metres in length and weighing around twelve kilograms. It possessed a delicate, elongated skull lined with recurved teeth featuring tiny serrations, suited for slicing flesh rather than crushing bone. In addition to a sharp, retractable sickle claw on each second toe, it had long arms with dexterous three-fingered hands. Fossil evidence, including tooth marks on pterosaur and hadrosaur bones, demonstrates that Saurornitholestes preyed on smaller animals while opportunistically scavenging larger carcasses. Its widespread occurrence suggests it was a vital mesopredator across the coastal lowlands of Laramidia.

A tooth of Saurornitholestes was found embedded in the wing bone of a giant azhdarchid pterosaur, confirming scavenged or predatory feeding.

Where and when

Saurornitholestes lived in the Late Cretaceous, from 77 to 74 million years ago (Campanian age). Its remains come from Canada and United States, in the Dinosaur Park Formation.

The numbers

Length 1.8 m (estimates run from 1.6 to 1.9 m). Mass about 12 kg. Hip height about 0.6 m. That is 1.1 human-lengths, or 0.16 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.

Compare Saurornitholestes with a bus Place on the timeline