Ornitholestes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids OrnitholestesTemporal range: Upper Jurassic
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Ornitholestes
Osborn, 1903
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Ornitholestes was a carnivorous dinosaur which lived in the Upper Jurassic period about 156–145 million years ago. It was about 2 metres long (6.6 feet), half of which was its long tail. Only one specimen of it has ever been found.
It is one of a group of small, fast-running dinosaurs which are classified as early Coelurosaurs. It is known from a partial skeleton found near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, in 1900. It was described by paleontologist Henry F. Osborn in 1903.
Description
Ornitholestes was a bipedal runner. Its small head suggests it ate small mammals, lizards, frogs, and hatchling dinosaurs. It could grasp prey with both hands. It is likely that all coelurosaurs had feathers.
Similar dinosaurs
Coelurus, Compsognathus, Tanycolagreus.
Images for kids
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Mounted holotype specimen
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Life restoration
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Illustration of the holotype skull
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Hand of the holotype, with the first finger restored on the right
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The early 20th century mount of the holotype skeleton at the AMNH, which stands much the same today
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This illustration by Charles R. Knight portrays Ornitholestes hunting Archaeopteryx, though they were not contemporaries
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See also
In Spanish: Ornitholestes hermanni para niños
