In Depth
A little known oviraptorid, Elmisaurus is based upon very few remains. Initially cited as a species of the North American Chirostenotes, it was quickly named as a distinct genus. Still, the Chirostenotes connection did not end there as in 1989 the palaeontologist Philip Currie established a second species, Elmisaurus elegans based upon oviraptorid fossils from North America. In 1997 Hans-Dieter Sues referred the fossils then belonging to Elmisaurus as actually belonging to Chirostenotes, thus establishing the second species of this genus, C. elegans.
Further Reading
– Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. – Palaeontologica Polonica 42:79-95. – H. Osmolska – 1981. – The first records of Elmisaurus (Saurischia, Theropoda) from North America. – Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 26(6):1319-1324. – P. J. Currie – 1989.
