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Albertavenator

Say it: al-BER-ta-ven-ay-tor

Name means: “Alberta hunter”1

Ate: A bit of everythingRaptorsLate Cretaceous

Albertavenator was a small, fast, bird-like dinosaur that lived in Canada about 71 million years ago. It had a short, wide skull bone that made it different from other smart raptors. Scientists think it ate meat and maybe plants too.1 2

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Horseshoe Canyon Formation, Alberta, Canada1 5

Food

A bit of everything5 2

Length

up to 2 m3

estimate

Weight

up to 60 kg3

estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 2 big dogs

as long as 4 house cats nose to tailas long as 11 bananas end to endas heavy as 12 watermelons

How big was Albertavenator compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

cool stuff

Fun facts

Albertavenator is known only from a few skull bones, especially the frontal bone of the forehead.1

Its frontal bone is very short and wide, with a length-to-width ratio less than 1.3, shorter than any other known troodontid from the Late Cretaceous.1 2

The name Albertavenator means 'Alberta hunter' and honors paleontologist Philip J. Currie.1

It lived during the early Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous, about 71 million years ago.1

Its fossils were found in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, which was a cool, swampy floodplain with redwoods and ferns.1

Albertavenator was a troodontid, a group of smart, bird-like raptors that had large brains and sharp claws.1

AI-made picture of Albertavenator — An AI-made picture of how Albertavenator might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Albertavenator

?How big was Albertavenator?

About the size of a person, based on comparisons with its close relative Troodon. It was a small-bodied troodontid.4 1

?Did Albertavenator have feathers?

Yes, scientists think it was covered in feathers, like its close relative Troodon.4

?What did Albertavenator eat?

Scientists think it ate meat and maybe plants too, based on its teeth and jaw remains.1

?When did Albertavenator live?

It lived about 71 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1 4

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think all troodontids were just one species called Troodon.

Truth: Albertavenator shows that there were many different troodontid species in the Late Cretaceous, each with unique skull features.1 2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Albertavenator
Named by: Evans et al. 20175
Group: Raptors
Family / clade: Troodontidae5
Classification: Theropoda > Troodontidae5
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian / Maastrichtian)5
Rock formations: Horseshoe Canyon5
Countries: Canada5
Fossil records: 4 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Albertavenator was named in 2017 by David C. Evans and his team. The first fossil, a partial left frontal bone, was found in the early 1990s near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are not sure if teeth and jaw bones found in the same formation belong to Albertavenator or to other troodontids.2

Where the facts come from

Albertavenator (en.wikipedia.org)
A new species of troodontid theropod (Dinosauria: Maniraptora) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Maastrichtian) of Alberta, Canada (cdnsciencepub.com)
Dinosaur that looked like a massive bird discovered in Canada | The Independent | The Independent (independent.co.uk)
Scientists Name New Species of Dinosaur After Canadian Icon | Royal Ontario Museum (rom.on.ca)
Albertavenator in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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