Elmisaurus

El-me-sore-us.
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Lilah Turner

Evolutionary Biologist

Lilah Turner investigates how prehistoric animals adapted to changing environments, offering insights into evolution's mechanisms.

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Name

Elmisaurus ‭(‬Foot sole lizard‭)‬.

Phonetic

El-me-sore-us.

Named By

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ ‬Oviraptorosauria,‭ ‬Caenagnathoidea,‭ ‬Caenagnathidae.

Diet

Omnivore‭?

Species

E.‭ ‬rarus‭

Size

Unknown due to lack of fossil material.

Known locations

Mongolia.

Time Period

Campanian/Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.

Fossil representation

Feet,‭ ‬hands.

In Depth

       A little known oviraptorid,‭ ‬Elmisaurus is based upon very few remains.‭ ‬Initially cited as a species of the North American Chirostenotes,‭ ‬it was quickly named as a distinct genus.‭ ‬Still,‭ ‬the Chirostenotes connection did not end there as in‭ ‬1989‭ ‬the palaeontologist Philip Currie established a second species,‭ ‬Elmisaurus elegans based upon oviraptorid fossils from North America.‭ ‬In‭ ‬1997‭ ‬Hans-Dieter Sues referred the fossils then belonging to Elmisaurus as actually belonging to Chirostenotes,‭ ‬thus establishing the second species of this genus,‭ ‬C.‭ ‬elegans.

Further Reading

– Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. – Palaeontologica Polonica 42:79-95. – H. Osmolska – 1981. – The first records of Elmisaurus (Saurischia, Theropoda) from North America. – Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 26(6):1319-1324. – P. J. Currie – 1989.

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