Stenonychosaurus

narrow-clawed lizard

• stenos · Greek · narrow
• onyx (onych-) · Greek · claw
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines Greek words for "narrow", "claw" and "lizard", so it means "narrow-clawed lizard". It was coined for a small theropod known from fossils including foot bones with narrow claws. The type species is Stenonychosaurus inequalis.

Named by

Sternberg

Year named

1932

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada

A small, bird-like troodontid theropod. Many authors, following Currie (1987), treat Stenonychosaurus as a junior synonym of Troodon. Some more recent work has questioned this and suggested that Stenonychosaurus inequalis may be a distinct, valid taxon, so its status is debated.