FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
The Ornitholestes was the first among all the theropod dinosaurs to be discovered. They existed on earth about 154 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic period.
The classification of the Ornitholestes was earlier made in the Coelurus genus. Later, this primitive dinosaur was made into the Ornitholestes genus.
The bipedal Ornitholestes is currently known and researched upon only from the remains of a partial skeleton that has a badly crushed skull. This only skeleton was unearthed in the year 1900 at the Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming, near the Medicine Bow.
These small theropods were described in the year 1903 by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn. Earlier, the remains of an incomplete hand were attributed to this genus. However, it has now been concluded to belong to Tanycolagreus.
Wondering what the diet of this dinosaur of the Jurassic period contained? Well, paleontologists have discovered that this dinosaur was a carnivore, and ate birds mainly. It also ate other small animals like lizards and frogs.
Interested to know about other dinosaur specimens? For more relatable content, check out these Ostafrikasaurus facts and Atrociraptor facts for kids.
The name Ornitholestes is pronounced as 'Or-nif-oh-less-tees'.
The Ornitholestes (meaning bird robber) is a type of theropod.
The bird robber is said to have existed during the Late Jurassic period, around the time of the middle Kimmeridgian age. This has been approximated to be about 154 million years ago.
We do know that this small theropod became extinct a million years ago. However, we are not aware of the exact time when these dinosaurs became extinct.
The discovery of the fossils of Ornitholestes was found in modern-day North America. They were unearthed from the Brushy Basin Member of western America’s Morrison Formation. This region was said to be in ancient western Laurasia.
These dinosaurs of the Jurassic period were ground dwellers.
Sorry, we are not capable of providing much information about the social life of this Theropoda dinosaur. However, it is known that these dinosaurs hunted for prey in packs.
Unfortunately, not much is known about these dinosaurs found in Wyoming.
Sorry, we do not know much about the reproduction process of the Late Jurassic era dinosaur. The only thing noted is that they reproduced by laying eggs.
The AMNH 619 holotype represents only a partial skeleton. This skeleton also included a skull, and even various elements of forelimbs, hindlimbs, vertebral columns, and even the pelvis.
The head has been said to be proportionally smaller in comparison to other predatory specimens. The skull has a short snout, a robust and flexible lower jaw, and was heavily built.
The front teeth were conical in shape, having reduced serrations. The back teeth, however, are sharply serrated and recurved. There were four teeth counted in the premaxilla by Henry, the front tooth being the largest one in the upper jaw. However, Paul depicted this theropod’s skull with only three remaining premaxillary teeth.
Each maxilla had 10 teeth, while each dentary contained 12 teeth. Their teeth were short; the lower dentary row is shorter than the upper maxillary row.
The neck of the Ornitholestes was short, with a slightly curved structure. The tail was extremely long and like a whip. This tail comprised more than half the length of the body. Unfortunately, all the vertebrae of this species were not preserved. However, there have been estimates that the dinosaur had about four sacral vertebrae, 9-10 cervical vertebrae, 39-44 caudal vertebrae, and 13 dorsal vertebrae. They also had sharp claws, which may have helped them to catch prey.
The forelimbs were about two-thirds the total length of the dinosaur's hind legs. They had three-clawed feet.
Some say that this dinosaur had feathers as well. It has been suggested that the feathers covered the body entirely is a short coat, except the legs. These feathers may have been useful for either insulation or activities related to reproduction, such as brooding the eggs.
Sorry, we do not know the total bones the Ornitholestes (meaning bird robber) had.
Unfortunately, we do not have this information but it is thought dinosaurs communicated physically and verbally through sounds .
Henry Osborn mentioned in the description published in the year 1903 that the length of the Ornitholestes along with the vertebral columns and skull restored was about 7.2 ft (2.2 m).
Following this, other researches conducted have shown that this reconstruction was not correct, with the trunk and neck being too elongated.
Thus, David Norman (in the year 1985) and John Foster (in the year 2007) states that the length of this dinosaur was roughly about 6.6 ft (2 m) long. Later publications, such as ‘Predatory Dinosaurs of the World’ published in the year 1988 by Gregory S. Paul stated that the Ornitholestes size was about 6.8 ft (2.1 m) long.
This makes them about seven times the size of the Palaeopteryx thompsoni.
Sorry, there is not much information available on the speed of these members of the Theropoda Clade.
Gregory S. Paul (in the year 1988) and John Foster (in the year 2007) estimated that the weight of this dinosaur was roughly about 27.8 lb (12.6 kg). However, in the year 2008, paleontologists Peter Schouten and John A. Long estimated this theropod having a weight of about 33.1 lb (15 kg).
There are no specific names for the male and female dinosaurs of this species.
You can simply call a baby dinosaur a hatchling.
This small theropod was said to be a bipedal carnivore. It is one of the well-known predatory theropods. The diet of these specimens mainly consisted of the meat of other animals.
Osborn, upon observations of the skeleton, concluded that these dinosaurs had efficient and rapid grasping power of the hand, and had good balancing capabilities of the tail. Other researchers suggested that these adaptations in this dinosaur were made to make it easier for them to prey easily on primitive birds. Recent authors say that the Ornitholestes ate animal meat, with salamanders, lizards, mammals, frogs, and dinosaur hatchlings being a part of the diet. Some even claim that the front conical teeth may have been used to grasp fish.
We wish we could tell you more information related to the Ornitholestes nature, whether they were aggressive or not.
The Ornitholestes was the first of all theropods to have been discovered by researchers in the 1900s. The AMNH 619 was the holotype skeleton that was unearthed in the year 1900 (July). This skeleton was excavated in Wyoming at the Bone Cabin Quarry. This was conducted by an American Museum of Natural History expedition which was conducted by Paul Miller, Peter C. Kaisen as well as Frederic Brewster Loomis.
The American Museum of Natural History, located in New York City, has an entire galore rich in history. Name any specimen, you can find its fossil remains here. There are more than 34 million specimens present here, which include fossils, plants, animals, and even meteorites.
The American Museum of Natural History houses the largest collection of dinosaur and mammal fossils.
The Ornitholestes were described and named the specimen by Henry Fairfield Osborn in the year 1903. The name of the genus, Ornitholestes, was initially passed as a suggestion by American ichthyologist, Theodore Gill. The meaning of Ornitholestes translates to ‘a bird robber’. This name comes from the Greek terms ornis/ornithos, which translates to ‘bird’, and lestes which means ‘robber’.
The type species falling under this genus is Ornitholestes hermanni.
The specific name of the type species, ‘hermanni’, is named in honor of Adam Hermann, the preparator of the American Museum of Natural History.
Adam Hermann was the head preparator of the American Museum of Natural History. He directed and overlooked the restoration as well as mounting of the Ornitholestes skeleton.
This small theropod dinosaur was said to survive in almost all habitats.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these Incisivosaurus interesting facts and Austroraptor fun facts for kids pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Ornitholestes coloring pages.
Main image by PaleoNeolitic.
Second image by Etemenanki3.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
Kidadl is independent and to make our service free to you the reader we are supported by advertising.
We hope you love our recommendations for products and services! What we suggest is selected independently by the Kidadl team. If you purchase using the buy now button we may earn a small commission. This does not influence our choices. Please note: prices are correct and items are available at the time the article was published.
Kidadl has a number of affiliate partners that we work with including Amazon. Please note that Kidadl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.
We also link to other websites, but are not responsible for their content.
Was this article helpful?
We’ll send you tons of inspiration to help you find a hidden gem in your local area or plan a big day out.
Check your inbox for your latest news from us. You have subscribed to:
Remember that you can always manage your preferences or unsubscribe through the link at the foot of each newsletter.