New egg thief dino from Canada

[DD1991]

A new paper describing a new oviraptorosaur from Canada is now available online:

Gregory F. Funston and Philip J. Currie (2016). "A new caenagnathid (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and a reevaluation of the relationships of Caenagnathidae". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Online edition: e1160910. doi:10.1080/02724634.2016.1160910.

The fact that Apatoraptor was first thought to be an ornithomimosaur when first discovered but eventually re-identified as belonging to a caenagnathid upon further preparation of the specimen reminds me of the instance where Epichirostenotes was first considered an ornithomimid when first reported in the literature but eventually re-assigned to Caenagnathidae when ROM 43250 was fully prepared. Because Apatoraptor and Epichirostenotes are distinct from one another, it turns out those who thought that Caenagnathus and Chirostenotes might still be distinct even if they belonged in the same family were correct, even though the diversity of Edmontonian-Lancian caenagnathids isn't as high as that of Judithian/Kirtlandian caenagnathids.

[sseth]

Thanks for sharing!

[bcfossilcollector]

Thank you! Will definitely check it out!