Stenonychosaurus (North American Dinosaurs)

Product Information

Troodon nests full of eggs have been found in Montana. When scientists CAT-scanned them, they found baby Troodon skeleton embryos inside of them. They found skeletons of a small plant-eating dinosaur named Orodromeus with the eggs, as well as a skeleton of an adult Troodon. At first, it was believed that the eggs had belonged to the Orodromeus, and that the Troodon was there intending to rob the nest. [3]

Holtz, Thomas R., Brinkman, Daniel L., Chandler, Christine L. (1998) Denticle Morphometrics and a Possibly Omnivorous Feeding Habit for the Theropod Dinosaur Troodon. Gaia number 15. December 1998. pp. 159-166. A scale drawing of a typical member of the Troodontidae dinosaur family. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur. Below is the phylogenetic analysis of van der Reest & Currie (2017). Polyodontosaurus has been considered a synonym of the "Two Medicine troodontid" and Latenivenatrix previously. [3] Troodontidae Polyodontosaurus (meaning "many-toothed lizard") is a potentially dubious genus of troodontid dinosaur named in 1932 by Charles W. Gilmore for a left dentary from the Dinosaur Park Formation. [1] It had been considered a synonym of Stenonychosaurus or Troodon for a significant time, before being declared a nomen dubium. The only known species is the type, P. grandis.

Disclaimer

Troodons size ranged widely. In general, individuals that lived further north were larger than those that lived in more southern areas. Troodons in Alaska were especially large, up to 12 feet long, 5 feet tall, and weighing up to 175 pounds. Meanwhile, Troodons that lived in more southern locations were only around 7 feet long, 3 feet tall, and weighed up to 50 pounds, about the size of a Velociraptor. Very likely Troodon had feathers, but no fossil evidence for feathers has yet been found. a b van der Reest, A. J.; Currie, P. J. (2017). "Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a description of a unique new taxon: implications for deinonychosaur diversity in North America". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 54 (9): 919–935. Bibcode: 2017CaJES..54..919V. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2017-0031. hdl: 1807/78296. However, Russell's thought experiment has been met with criticism from other paleontologists since the 1980s, many of whom point out that his Dinosauroid is overly anthropomorphic. Gregory S. Paul (1988) and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., consider it "suspiciously human" and Darren Naish has argued that a large-brained, highly intelligent troodontid would retain a more standard theropod body plan, with a horizontal posture and long tail, and would probably manipulate objects with the snout and feet in the manner of a bird, rather than with human-like "hands". [15] Paleobiology [ ]

There has been a lot of debate about which specimens, all very incomplete, should be called Troodon. The genus now includes specimens previously classified as Stenonychosaurus.Troodontids had semi-manipulative fingers, able to grasp and hold objects to a certain degree, and binocular vision. [8] Russell proposed that his "Dinosauroid", like members of the troodontid family, would have had large eyes and three fingers on each hand, one of which would have been partially opposed. Russell also speculated that the "Dinosauroid" would have had a toothless beak. As with most modern reptiles (and birds), he conceived of its genitalia as internal. Russell speculated that it would have required a navel, as a placenta aids the development of a large brain case. However, it would not have possessed mammary glands, and would have fed its young, as some birds do, on regurgitated food. He speculated that its language would have sounded somewhat like bird song. [8][15]