Sinornithoides

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sinornithoides
Temporal range:
Ma
↓
Fossil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Family: †Troodontidae
Genus: †Sinornithoides
Russell & Dong, 1993
Species:
†S. youngi
Binomial name
†Sinornithoides youngi
Russell & Dong, 1993

Sinornithoides (meaning "Chinese bird form") is a

ft). It lived in Inner Mongolia, China
, and probably ate invertebrates and other small prey. They lived in what is now Mongolia, which was part of Laurasia.

Discovery

Skeletal restoration

In 1988, a Chinese-Canadian expedition discovered the remains of a small theropod near

Ordos Basin of Inner Mongolia. Sinornithoides youngi, the type species, was named and described in 1993/1994 by Dale Russell and Dong Zhiming based on this fossil specimen from the Lower Cretaceous Ejinhoro Formation. The generic name is derived from Latin Sinae, "Chinese", and Greek ὄρνις, ornis, "bird", en ~ειδής, ~eides, a suffix meaning "~like", in reference to the bird-like build. The specific name honours Yang Zhongjian.[2]

It is represented by a

Mei long, with its snout tucked under its left hand. It represents a subadult individual.[3]

Description

Size of Sinornithoides, compared to a human

Sinornithoides is a

hands, and some of the highest non-avian encephalization quotients, meaning they were behaviourally advanced and had keen senses.[4] In 2010, Gregory S. Paul estimated its body length at 1.1 metres, its weight at 2.5 kilogrammes.[5]

Restoration of a nesting individual

In 1994, Sinornithoides was one of the most completely known troodontids, especially as regarded the palate, but the lack of sufficient fossil material to compare it with induced Russell and Dong not to indicate any diagnostic traits.[2]

The skull of Sinornithoides is elongated and pointed. However, the head is relatively short compared to the body as a whole. The

metatarsal is not fully overgrown by the second and fourth metatarsals. The sickle claw of the second toe is relatively large and long for a troodontid.[2]

Classification

Sinornithoides was in 1994 assigned to the Troodontidae.[2]

A possible position of Sinornithoides in the evolutionary tree of the Paraves is shown by the cladogram below, following a 2012 analysis by Turner, Makovicky and Norell.[6]

troodontid
teeth; E and H are Sinornithoides
Paraves

See also

References

  1. ^ Sereno, P.C. (2010). "Taxonomy, cranial morphology, and relationships of parrot-beaked dinosaurs (Ceratopsia: Psittacosaurus)." New Perspectives on Horned Dinosaurs. Bloomington: Indiana, 21-58.
  2. ^ a b c d Russell, D. and Dong, Z. (1993). "A nearly complete skeleton of a new troodontid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of the Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, People's Republic of China." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 30: 2163-2173. doi:10.1139/e93-187
  3. doi:10.1139/cjes-38-12-1753
  4. doi:10.4202/app.2009.0047
    .
  5. ^ Paul, G.S., 2010, The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs, Princeton University Press p. 139
  6. S2CID 83572446
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sinornithoides&oldid=1196866310"