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sharp-clawed runner · Doubtful name
Ornithodesmus
Ornithodesmus cluniculus
Ornithodesmus ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United Kingdom.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1887 · Seeley, H. G.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- 1.5 m · 5 ft
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- the United Kingdom · Wessex
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Dromaeosauridae
The story in short
Ornithodesmus was formally named in 1887 by H. G. Seeley. The name means “bird link.”
Fossils referred to Ornithodesmus date to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from the United Kingdom, including the Wessex Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Ornithodesmus at a length near 1.5 m.
On the family tree it sits in Dromaeosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Asiamericana
Asiamericana asiatica
Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian) · roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago
Balaur
Balaur bondoc
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Dakotaraptor
Dakotaraptor steini
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago