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MICROVENATOR "Small Hunter"

ANATOMY
Microvenator (meaning "small hunter") was a small, fast-moving, lightly-built dinosaur that walked on two long legs. It was about 4 ft. (1.2 m) long and weighed roughly 6.5 to 14 pounds (3 to 6.4 kg). This turkey-sized predator had short arms, large eyes, a long neck, a small head, and a long snout tat may have had a toothless beak. Each hand had three long fingers, each equipped with a claw. Each foot had three, clawed, bird-like toes.

WHEN MICROVENATOR LIVED
Microvenator lived in the early Cretaceous period, about 119 million to 113 million years ago. This was a time when the Earth was warmer than it is now and the sea levels were much higher (since there was no polar ice).

BEHAVIOR, INTELLIGENCE
Microvenator was a relatively large-brained dinosaur that was among the most intelligent of the dinosaurs.

DIET
Microvenator was a meat-eater. This small, quick-moving predator probably ate small reptiles, small mammals, and insects.

LOCOMOTION
Microvenator walked on two long, slender, bird-like legs. It must have been a fast runner, considering its long legs and light weight.

DISCOVERY OF FOSSILS
Microvenator was named by paleontologist John H. Ostrom in 1970. It is known from a partial skeleton (which may be a juvenile) found in Montana, USA.

CLASSIFICATION
Microvenator belonged to the:

• Kingdom Animalia (animals)
• Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
• Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
• Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
• Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
• Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
• Superfamily Maniraptoriformes - advanced coelurosaurs with a fused wrist bone
• Family Maniraptora
• Genus Microvenator
• species celer (type species)

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