Chirostenotes

Say it: kie-ro-sten-oh-teez

Name means: “narrow-handed”1

Ate: A bit of everythingOdd feathered dinosLate Cretaceous

Chirostenotes was a small, bird-like dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. It had long, slender fingers and a beak without teeth, and scientists think it ate both plants and small animals.1 2

Lived

84 to 66 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Canada (Alberta) and the United States (Montana, South Dakota, Texas)3 1

Food

A bit of everything2 3

Length

1.7 m1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

Chirostenotes belongs to a group called caenagnathids, which are oviraptorosaurs. These dinosaurs are known for their toothless beaks and often had crests on their heads.3 2

Its name means 'narrow-handed' because its hand bones were long and slender, with three fingers that ended in sharp claws.1

Chirostenotes lived between about 79 and 67 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period.1

Fossils of Chirostenotes have been found in the Dinosaur Park Formation in Alberta, Canada, and the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, USA.3

Scientists once thought Chirostenotes was a different dinosaur called Macrophalangia, which means 'big toes'. Now they know it's the same animal.3

A study of a well-preserved jaw showed that Chirostenotes had a strong, shearing bite, like some plant-eating animals today. This supports the idea that it ate tough plants.2

AI-made picture of Chirostenotes — An AI-made picture of how Chirostenotes 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.

Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Chirostenotes was a meat-eater like many other theropods.

Truth: Chirostenotes was actually an omnivore, eating both plants and small animals. Its toothless beak and jaw shape are better suited for slicing plants than for catching large prey.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Chirostenotes
Named by: Gilmore 19243
Group: Odd feathered dinos
Family / clade: Caenagnathidae3
Classification: Theropoda > Oviraptorosauria3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 66 million years (Campanian to Maastrichtian)3
Rock formations: Hell Creek, Dinosaur Park, Aguja3
Countries: USA, Canada3
Fossil records: 28 in the Paleobiology Database3
Also known as: Macrophalangia (older names now counted as the same animal)3
Discovery: Chirostenotes was named in 1924 by paleontologist Charles W. Gilmore, based on a pair of hands found in Alberta, Canada. Later, more complete fossils showed it was a caenagnathid.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly what Chirostenotes ate. Some think it was mostly a plant-eater, while others believe it ate a mix of plants and small animals.2

Where the facts come from

Chirostenotes | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
A previously undescribed caenagnathid mandible from the late Campanian of Alberta, and insights into the diet of Chirostenotes pergracilis (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) (cdnsciencepub.com)
Chirostenotes in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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