Saurornithoides

lizard-bird form

• sauros · Greek · lizard
• ornis · Greek · bird
• -oides · Greek · resembling, form of

The name combines the Greek words for "lizard" and "bird" with a suffix meaning "resembling". Henry Fairfield Osborn chose it because this small theropod had a lightly built, bird-like skeleton and skull while still being reptilian. It was found in Mongolia and named from material collected by the American Museum of Natural History's Central Asiatic Expeditions.

Named by

Osborn

Year named

1924

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Djadochta Formation (type species S. mongoliensis), Mongolia

A troodontid theropod; type species S. mongoliensis. The stage range and formation attribution are uncertain: the original material is generally attributed to the Campanian Djadochta Formation, and the Maastrichtian end of the range is doubtful.