Would huge animals such as Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops have given rise to an intelligent, technological society like ours? Polyodontosaurus, represented by the holotype CMN 8540, was found in the Steveville area in the Dinosaur Park Formation. It was found about 37m (121ft) below the highest layer of the formation, and comes from the MAZ (Megaherbivore assemblage zone)-2 portion of the fauna, which existed after MAZ-1. This exact stratigraphic location cannot be verified. MAZ-2 spans from 75.9 to 75.3 million years ago, CMN 8540 is from slightly above (younger) than the middle of the formation. [3] Stenonychosaurus lived approximately 12 million years before the end of the age of the dinosaurs and, according to Russell, may well have been as intelligent as the first humans. Given the time to develop, the descendants of Stenonychosaurus could well have evolved into an animal at least as capable as mankind. Their eyes were very large (perhaps suggesting a partially nocturnal lifestyle), and slightly forward facing, giving Stenonychosaurus some degree of depth perception. [12] Brain and inner ear [ edit ] Restoration

Currie, P. (1987). "Theropods of the Judith River Formation". Occasional Paper of the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. 3: 52–60. Thanks to this new study, the story of troodontids in North America is a little clearer. A distinct stratigraphic separation between Stenonychosaurus inequalis and the younger troodontid Latenivenatrix mcmasterae has been established. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that Latenivenatrix is more closely related to Asian Troodonts than it is to Stenonychosaurus, this suggests that the replacement of Stenonychosaurus may have resulted from an earlier Asian migrant into North America. Weishampel, D.B.; Barrett, P.M.; Coria, R.A.; Le Loeuff, J.; Xu, X.; Zhao, X.; Sahni, A.; Gomani, E.M.P.; Noto, C.R. (2004). "Dinosaur Distribution". In Weishampel, D.B.; Dodson, P.; Osmólska, H. (eds.). The Dinosauria (Second ed.). University of California Press. pp. 517–606. ISBN 978-0-520-24209-8. In 2017, Evans and colleagues, building on the work of Zanno and others, confirmed the currently undiagnostic nature of the holotype of Troodon formosus and suggested that Stenonychosaurus be used for troodontid skeletal material from the Dinosaur Park Formation. [13] Later in 2017, Van der Reest and Currie found Stenonychosaurus to be a valid genus, but reassigned much of the known material to the new genus Latenivenatrix. [14] The "Dinosauroid" [ ] Troodon formosus has been found from Mexico all the way to Alaska, spanning a 15 million year period — a fantastic and unlikely feat,” van der Reest said.

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Latenivenatrix was found to be a derived troodontid (part of the newly defined Troodontinae), probably related to coeval Asian forms such as Linhevenator and Philovenator. [2] Paleobiology [ edit ] Holtz, Thomas R., Brinkman, Daniel L., Chandler, Chistine L. (1998) Denticle Morphometrics and a Possibly Omnivorous Feeding Habit for the Theropod Dinosaur Troodon. Gaia number 15. December 1998. pp. 159–166. Varricchio et al. (1997) described the exact structure of the nests. They were built from sediments, they were dish shaped, about 100cm (39in) in internal diameter, and with a pronounced raised rim encircling the eggs. The more complete nests had between 16 (minimum number in MOR 246) and 24 (MOR 963) eggs. The eggs are shaped like elongated teardrops, with the more tapered ends pointed downwards and embedded about halfway in the sediment. The eggs are pitched at an angle so that, on average, the upper half is closer to the center of the nest. There is no evidence that plant matter was present in the nest. Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretio

The first specimens assigned to Troodon that were not teeth were both found by Sternberg in the early 1930s in the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta. The first was named Stenonychosaurus inequalis by Sternberg in 1932 based on a foot, fragments of a hand, and some tail vertebrae. A remarkable feature of these remains was the enlarged claw on the second toe, which is now recognized as characteristic of early paravians. Sternberg initially classified Stenonychosaurus as a member of the family Coeluridae. The second, a partial lower jaw bone, was described by Gilmore (1932) as a new species of lizard which he named Polyodontosaurus grandis. In 1951, Sternberg later recognized P. grandis as a possible synonym of Troodon and speculated that, since Stenonychosaurus had a "very peculiar pes" and Troodon "equally unusual teeth", they may be closely related. Unfortunately, no comparable specimens were available at that time to test the idea. In a recent revision of the material by van der Reest & Currie, Polyodontosaurus was determined to be a nomen dubium, not fit for synonymy with other taxa. [5]

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But if you have more time, there's obviously more opportunities for selection pressures to open up which might favour smarter animals. Cullen, Thomas M.; Zanno, Lindsay; Larson, Derek W.; Todd, Erinn; Currie, Philip J.; Evans, David C. (June 30, 2021). "Anatomical, morphometric, and stratigraphic analyses of theropod biodiversity in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation1". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 58 (9): 870–884. doi: 10.1139/cjes-2020-0145. But it’s an enticing thought. Douglas Dixon’s book The New Dinosaurs explores how dinosaurs might have adapted to exploit current evolutionary niches. He anticipates dino whales, dino giraffes…but could there be dino humans? Polyodontosaurus (meaning "many-toothed lizard") is a potentially dubious genus of troodontid dinosaur named in 1932 by Charles W. Gilmore for a left dentary from the Dinosaur Park Formation. [1] It had been considered a synonym of Stenonychosaurus or Troodon for a significant time, before being declared a nomen dubium. The only known species is the type, P. grandis. This genus can be distinguished from other troodontids (particularly its close relative Latenivenatrix) due to the following features:

According to van der Reest and his co-author, University of Alberta Professor Philip Currie, Latenivenatrix mcmasterae and Stenonychosaurus inequalis roamed the Earth around 72 million years ago during the Campanian, the fifth of six ages of the Upper Cretaceous epoch. In 2014, University of Alberta paleontology student Aaron J. van der Reest discovered an intact troodontid pelvis in Dinosaur Provincial Park, leading him to take a closer look at previously collected troodontid cranial bones from southern Alberta. What does this have to do with the dinosauroid? Russell wrote several times that dinosauroid-like humanoids could have evolved in “some biospheres” (Naish & Tattersdill 2021, p. 8 unpaginated), and said more than once between 1979 and 1981 that he would be able to bring a hypothetical reconstruction of a big-brained dinosaur to SETI-themed meetings. Remember that all of this was happening a couple of years before the dinosauroid was brought to life in 3D form. I also think it’s important that, again, the dinosauroid was being used to promote ideas about intelligent aliens: it again makes me think that Russell’s focus wasn’t on speculative dinosaur evolution at all, but on promoting the idea of humanoid intelligences evolving elsewhere in the universe. a b c Russell, D.A. (1969). "A new specimen of Stenonychosaurus from the Oldman Formation (Cretaceous) of Alberta". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 6 (4): 595–612. Bibcode: 1969CaJES...6..595R. doi: 10.1139/e69-059.Books on the Loch Ness Monster 3: The Man Who Filmed Nessie: Tim Dinsdale and the Enigma of Loch Ness The scientific paper: “Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a Description of a Unique New Taxon: Implications for Deinonychosaur Diversity in North America” by Aaron J. van der Reest and Philip J. Currie published in the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. Below is the phylogenetic analysis of van der Reest & Currie (2017). Polyodontosaurus has been considered a synonym of the "Two Medicine troodontid" and Latenivenatrix previously. [3] Troodontidae