Ojoraptorsaurus

Ojo Encino raptor lizard

• Ojo · Spanish · Ojo Encino (place name — Spanish for 'spring of the evergreen oak')
• raptor · Latin · thief / plunderer
• saurus · Greek · lizard

The name combines "Ojo" (from Ojo Encino, the locality in New Mexico where the fossils were found), the Latin "raptor" (thief or plunderer, widely used in dinosaur names to indicate a predatory nature), and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). The Ojo Encino area of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, is the source of the formation that yielded the specimen. Together the name means roughly "raptor lizard from Ojo Encino."

Named by

Sullivan and Lucas

Year named

2006

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Naashoibito Member, Kirtland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico, USA

Ojoraptorsaurus is a oviraptorosaur (caenagnathid) dinosaur known from fragmentary remains. It is one of the few oviraptorosaurs described from the Late Cretaceous of North America's southwestern region. Some researchers have questioned whether it is truly distinct from other caenagnathids, but it is currently treated as a valid genus.