Dinosaurs A to Z
Troodontidae

Papiliovenator neimengguensis

"butterfly hunter"

Generic raptor body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Papiliovenator 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 Papiliovenator
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Cretaceous (145–66 Mya)
Place
China · Mongolia
Food
Carnivore
Clade
Troodontidae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Small, brainy, feathered theropods.

Papiliovenator (meaning “butterfly hunter”, after a butterfly-shaped feature on its first two dorsal vertebrae) is a genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur from the Bayan Mandahu Formation of Inner Mongolia, China. The type and only species is Papiliovenator neimengguensis.

What we know

  • Named by Pei et al., 2022.
  • Fossils found in China and Mongolia.

What we guess

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