Elmisaurus

Taxobox
name = "Elmisaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
infraordo = Oviraptorosauria
familia = Caenagnathidae
genus = "Elmisaurus"
binomial = "Elmisaurus rarus"
binomial_authority = Osmólska, 1981

"Elmisaurus" is an extinct genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. It was a theropod belonging to the Oviraptorosauria. Its fossils have been found in Asia and North America. It's known from only its feet and hands.

The type species, "E. rarus", was described by Halszka Osmólska in 1981.Osmólska, H. (1981). Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. "Palaeontologica Polonica" 42:79-95.] A second species, "E. elegans" (a North American form originally described as a species of "Ornithomimus" by William Parks in 1933), was referred in 1989 to "Elmisaurus".Parks, W.A. (1933). New species of dinosaurs and turtles from the Upper Cretaceous formations of Alberta. "University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series" 34:1-33.] Currie, P.J. (1989). The first records of "Elmisaurus" (Saurischia, Theropoda) from North America. "Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences" 26(6):1319-1324.] The frequent mis-assignment of this species is probably due to poor preservation and its geographical distance from the type species. More recently, Hans-Dieter Sues demonstrated that this supposed second species of "Elmisaurus" is actually a junior synonym of "Chirostenotes pergracilis".Sues, H.-D. (1997). "On "Chirostenotes", a Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from western North America." "Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology" 17(4):698-716.]

References

External links

* [http://www.dinoruss.com/de_4/5a6796c.htm "Elmisaurus" in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia] at Dino Russ' Lair