Dinosaurs A to Z
Troodontidae

Liaoningvenator curriei

"Liaoning hunter"

Generic raptor body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Liaoningvenator 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic raptor body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Liaoningvenator
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Early Cretaceous (126 Mya)
Place
China
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Troodontidae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Small, brainy, feathered theropods.

Liaoningvenator (meaning “Liaoning hunter”) is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of China. It contains a single species, L. curriei, named after paleontologist Phillip J. Currie in 2017 by Shen Cai-Zhi and colleagues from an articulated, nearly complete skeleton, one of the most complete troodontid specimens known. Shen and colleagues found indicative traits that placed Liaoningvenator within the Troodontidae. These traits included its numerous, small, and closely packed teeth, as well as the vertebrae towards the end of its tail having shallow grooves in place of neural spines on their top surfaces.

What we know

  • Named by Shen et al., 2017.
  • Fossils found in China.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Liaoningvenator — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.