Caenagnathus
SEE-nag-NAY-thus /ˌsiːnægˈneɪθəs/
Accepted genus
recent jaw
- caen- (kainos) · Greek · recent, new
- gnathos · Greek · jaw
The name combines the Greek words for "recent" and "jaw". Sternberg chose it in 1940 for a toothless lower jaw that he thought looked like the jaws of modern (recent) birds. The jaw was later recognised as belonging to a bird-like, beaked theropod, one of the caenagnathids.
- Named by
- Sternberg
- Year named
- 1940
- Period
- Late Cretaceous
- Stage
- Campanian
- Found in
- Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada
A toothless, beaked oviraptorosaur and the type genus of the family Caenagnathidae. The type species is Caenagnathus collinsi. Its relationship to Chirostenotes and Macrophalangia has been debated, and some recent work treats Macrophalangia as part of Caenagnathus.