Archaeornithoides
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Archaeornithoides Temporal range: Late Cretaceous, 75 Ma |
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| Skull reconstruction, known material in brown | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| (unranked): | Coelurosauria |
| Family: | Troodontidae? |
| Genus: |
Archaeornithoides Elzanowksi & Wellnhofer, 1992 |
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Archaeornithoides is a genus of maniraptoriform theropod dinosaur of the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia.
In 1965, a Polish-Mongolian paleontological expedition found a fossil of a small dinosaur at Bayn Dzak, Mongolia. In 1983, the find was reported by Andrzej Elzanowski. The remains were named as the type species Archaeornithoides deinosauriscus by Elzanowski and Peter Wellnhofer in 1992. In 1993, they were described in more detail by the same authors.
The generic name (Archaeornithoides) means “shaped like an ancient bird” in Ancient Greek, from ἀρχαῖος, archaios, "ancient"; ὄρνις, ornis, "bird"; and εἶδος, eidos, "form". The specific descriptor deinosauriscus, "little dinosaur", alludes to the animal's small size for a dinosaur.
The holotype, ZPAL MgD-II/29, was discovered in Late Cretaceous river sandstones of the Djadokhta Formation beds, dating from the late Campanian. It consists of an articulated but fragmentary skull and lower jaws comprehending paired maxillae, a partial jugal, palate bones and dentaries. The specimen represents a juvenile individual.
The holotype of Archaeornithoides was a very small individual. The head fragment as preserved measures just twenty-seven millimetres in length, indicating an original skull length of about five centimetres. The body length was estimated at fifty to sixty centimetres, making the Archaiornithoides type one of the smallest known non-avian dinosaurs. Adult length is uncertain.
The snout of Archaeornithoides features a long antorbital fenestra, stretching over three quarters of the length of the maxilla. The maxilla bears at least eight teeth. These are small, conical and smooth, lacking wrinkles, serrations or carinae. The palatine bone seems to show the presence of a secondary fenestra.
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