Sinovenator
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Sinovenator Temporal range: Early Cretaceous, 125 Ma |
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| Specimen IVPP V14322 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Troodontidae |
| Genus: |
†Sinovenator Xu et al., 2002 |
| Species: | †S. changii |
| Binomial name | |
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Sinovenator changii Xu et al., 2002 |
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Sinovenator (meaning "Chinese hunter") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from China. It is from the early Cretaceous Period.
Two specimens of a troodontid were described in 2002. They are both housed in the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, under the specimen numbers IVPP V 12615 and IVPP V 12583. Xu Xing, Mark Norell, and colleagues authored the study describing them, finding the specimens to represent a new taxon, for which was chosen the binomial Sinovenator changii. The generic name was derived from the Latin word Sinae, for China, and Venator, or "hunter". Meemann Chang is honoured by the species name for her contributions to the study of the Jehol Fauna. However, as Chang is a female researcher, the epithet should have been "changae". However, such mistakes cannot be emended according to the rules of the ICZN and therefore forms such as "Sinovenator changae" or "Sinovenator changiae" that sometimes appear in the literature, are incorrect.
The type specimen or holotype of Sinovenator changii is IVPP 12615, a partial skull and disarticulated skeleton. An additional specimen was by the original publication scientifically described and assigned as the paratype of the species: an incomplete but articulated postcranial skeleton, numbered IVPP 12583. A third specimen was referred: IVPP V14322, a fragmentary skeleton. All three are in the collection of the IVPP in Beijing, China. However, Sinovenator fossils appear to be common in the Lujiatun Beds. In a 2006 survey of the Jehol Biota, Xu and Norell reported that hundreds of undescribed specimens are known. The fossils have been preserved three-dimensionally, not strongly compressed on a slab.
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