LATENIVENATRIX
a large, meat-eating troodontid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Canada.
Pronunciation: la-ten-EYE-vuh-NAY-tricks
Meaning: Hidden hunter
Author/s: van der Reest and Currie (
2017)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Alberta, Canada
Discovery Chart Position: #962
Latenivenatrix mcmasterae
(McMaster's hidden hunter)Etymology
Latenivenatrix is derived from the Latin "latens" (hiding) and "venatrix"
(feminine form of "venator", meaning "hunter"). The name refers to its fossils hiding in several collections for almost a century without being recognised as distinct, and to a predatory dinosaur that would hide in cover until a suitable time to attack its prey. The
species epithet,
mcmasterae (mac-MAH-stuh-rye), honors the first author's late mother, Lynne (McMaster) van der Reest.
Discovery
All remains of
Latenivenatrix were discovered at "MAZ-2" in the upper part of the Dinosaur Park Formation, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.
The
holotype (CMN 12340) is a partial skeleton that Dale A. Russell
assigned to
Stenonychosaurus inequalis in 1969, because its hind limb material matched that of the type specimen (CMN 8539) described by C.M. Sternberg thirty seven years earlier. It was discovered by the late Irene Vanderloh in 1968.
Referred material:
UALVP 55804: an eroded pelvis (an articulated sacrum, partial left ilium and pubic shaft, and a complete right ilium and partial pubis) found by van der Reest in June of 2014.
TMP 1982.019.0023: a partial skull
found by Linda Strong that was initially assigned to
Stenonychosaurus inequalis by Phil Currie in 1985. Two years later, Currie synonimised
Stenonychosaurus with
Troodon.
TMP 1992.036.575: A 90% complete right dentary, a complete left metatarsal II, half of metatarsal III, and complete metatarsals IV and
V, found at "bonebed 75" by Susan Currie.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Late Cretaceous
Stage: Late Campanian
Age range: 76-71 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 3.6 meters
Est. max. hip height: 1.2 meters
Est. max. weight: 20 Kg
Diet: Carnivore
Latenivenatrix
mcmasterae
References
• Russell DA (1969) "A new specimen of
Stenonychosaurus from the Oldman Formation (Cretaceous) of Alberta".
Canadian Journal of Earth
Sciences, 6(4): 595-612.
• Currie PJ (1985) "Cranial anatomy of
Stenonychosaurus inequalis (Saurischia, Theropoda) and its bearing on the origin of birds".
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 22: 1643-1658. DOI: 10.1139/e85-173
• Currie PJ (1987) "Bird-like characteristics of the jaws and teeth of troodontid theropods".
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 7(1): 72-81. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.1987.10011638.
• Evans DC, Cullen TM, Larson DW and Rego A (2017) "A new species of troodontid theropod (Dinosauria: Maniraptora) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Maastrichtian) of Alberta, Canada".
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 54(8): 813–826. DOI: 10.1139/cjes-2017-0034.
• van der Reest AJ and Currie PJ (2017) "Troodontids (Theropoda) from the Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, with a description of a unique new taxon: implications for deinonychosaur diversity in North America".
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 54(9): 919-935. DOI: 10.1139/cjes-2017-0031. [*Image Credit*.]
• Cullen TM, Zanno LE, Larson DW, Todd E, Currie PJ and Evans DC (2021) "Anatomical, morphometric, and stratigraphic analyses of theropod biodiversity in the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation1".
Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 58(9): 1-15. DOI: 10.1139/cjes-2020-0145.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
LATENIVENATRIX :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/LATENIVENATRIX›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
