Family

Valid Extinct

Caenagnathidae

Sternberg 1940

Caenagnathidae is a family of derived caenagnathoid dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of North America and Asia. They are a member of the Oviraptorosauria, and relatives of the Oviraptoridae. Like other oviraptorosaurs, caenagnathids had specialized beaks, long necks, and short tails, and would have been covered in feathers. The relationships of caenagnathids were long a puzzle. The family was originally named by Raymond Martin Sternberg in 1940 as a family of flightless birds. The discovery of skeletons of the related oviraptorids revealed that they were in fact non-avian theropods, and the discovery of more complete caenagnathid remains revealed that Chirostenotes pergracilis, originally named on the basis of a pair of hands, and Citipes elegans, originally thought to be an ornithomimid, named from a foot, were caenagnathids as well.

Temporal range

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

Paleogene

Neogene

252 201 145 66 0 Ma

PBDB occurrences

111

Group

Dinosaures

Omnivore Ground dwelling (surface) Terrestrial

click to enlarge

Restored skull and neck vertebra of Anzu wyliei (previously labelled as a specimen of Chirostenotes) © Kabacchi · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia

PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗

Classification

Dinosauria Unranked clade

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Theropoda Unranked clade

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Neotheropoda Unranked clade

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Averostra Unranked clade

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Tetanurae Unranked clade

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Coelurosauria Unranked clade

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Maniraptora Unranked clade

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Oviraptorosauria Infraorder

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Caenagnathidae Family

Fossil sites 111 geolocated sites

Distribution

Top countries

🇺🇸 United States

🇨🇦 Canada

🇲🇳 Mongolia

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan

🇨🇳 China

🇲🇽 Mexico

🇰🇿 Kazakhstan

🇷🇴 Romania

Geological formations

Hell Creek

Dinosaur Park

Aguja

Bissekty

Nemegt

Cloverly

Frenchman

Wapiti

Iren Dabasu

Horseshoe Canyon

Temporal distribution

Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)

Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)

Turonian (93.9–89.8 Ma)

Cenomanian (100.5–93.9 Ma)

Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)

Synonyms (3)

Elmisauridae subjective synonym of Caenagnathidae

Ojoraptorsaurus nomen dubium Caenagnathidae

Ojoraptorsaurus boerei nomen dubium, species not entered Caenagnathidae

Images 13

Bibliography

Original description

R. M. Sternberg. 1940. A toothless bird from the Cretaceous of Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 14(1):81-85

Bibliography (53)

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G. F. Funston, T. E. Williamson, and S. L. Brusatte. 2024. A caenagnathid tibia (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the upper Campanian Kirtland Formation of New Mexico. Cretaceous Research DOI ↗

J. Słowiak, S. L. Brusatte, and T. Szczygielski. 2024. Reassessment of the enigmatic Late Cretaceous theropod dinosaur, Bagaraatan ostromi. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 202(3):1–39 DOI ↗

S. L. Wick, T. M. Lehman, and J. D. Fortner. 2024. New caenagnathid (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) dinosaur specimens from middle and upper Campanian strata of West Texas. Geobios 82:93-116 DOI ↗

J. T. Voris, D. K. Zelenitsky, and F. Therrien. 2023. Caenagnathids (Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria) from the uppermost Maastrichtian of the Scollard Formation of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research DOI ↗

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C. I. Serrano-Brañas, B. Espinosa-Chávez, and S. A. Maccracken, D. Barrera Guevara, E. Torres-Rodríguez. 2022. First record of caenagnathid dinosaurs (Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria) from the Cerro del Pueblo Formation (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous), Coahuila, Mexico. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 119:104046 DOI ↗

G. F. Funston, P. J. Currie, and C. Tsogtbaatar, T. Khishigjav. 2021. A partial oviraptorosaur skeleton suggests low caenagnathid diversity in the Late Cretaceous Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. PLoS ONE 16(7):e0254564:1-21 DOI ↗

W. W. Stein. 2021. The paleontology, geology and taphonomy of the Tooth Draw Deposit; Hell Creek Formation (Maastrictian), Butte County, South Dakota. The Journal of Paleontological Sciences JPS.C.21:0001:1-108

K. Tsujimura, M. Manabe, and Y. Chiba, T. Tsuihiji. 2021. Metatarsals of a large caenagnathid cf. Anzu wyliei (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Hell Creek Formation in South Dakota, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences DOI ↗

C.-g. Yun and G. F. Funston. 2021. A caenagnathid oviraptorosaur metatarsal from the Mesaverde Formation (Campanian) of Wyoming, USA. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 9:105-115 DOI ↗

T. M. Cullen, D. J. Simon, and E. K. C. Benner, D. C. Evans. 2020. Morphology and osteohistology of a large‐bodied caenagnathid (Theropoda, Oviraptorosauria) from the Hell Creek Formation (Montana): implications for size‐based classifications and growth reconstruction in theropods. Papers in Palaeontology DOI ↗

G. F. Funston. 2020. Caenagnathids of the Dinosaur Park Formation (Campanian) of Alberta, Canada: anatomy, osteohistology, taxonomy, and evolution. Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology 8:105-153 DOI ↗

R. T. Tucker, L. E. Zanno, and H. -Q. Huang, P. J. Makovicky. 2020. A refined temporal framework for newly discovered fossil assemblages of the upper Cedar Mountain Formation (Mussentuchit Member), Mussentuchit Wash, Central Utah. Cretaceous Research 110:104384 DOI ↗

Y.-L. Yu, K.-B. Wang, and S.-Q. Chen, C. Sullivan, S. Wang, P.-Y. Wang, X. Xu . 2018. A new caenagnathid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Wangshi Group of Shandong, China, with comments on size variation among oviraptorosaurs. Scientific Reports 8:5030 DOI ↗

H. Pu, D. K. Zelenitsky, and J. Lü, P. J. Currie, K. Carpenter, L. Xu, E. B. Koppelhus, S. Jia, L. Xiao, H. Chuang, T. Li, M. Kundrát, C. Shen. 2017. Perinate and eggs of a giant caenagnathid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of central China. Nature Communications 8:14952:1-9 DOI ↗

G. F. Funston, P. J. Currie, and M. E. Burns. 2016. New elmisaurine specimens from North America and their relationship to the Mongolian Elmisaurus rarus. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61(1):159-173 DOI ↗

G. F. Funston and P. J. Currie. 2016. A new caenagnathid (Dinosauria: Oviraptorosauria) from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, and a reevaluation of the relationships of Caenagnathidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(4):e1160910:1-18 DOI ↗

W. G. Joyce, T. R. Lyson, and S. Williams. 2016. New cranial material of Gilmoremys lancensis (Testudines, Trionychidae) from the Hell Creek Formation of southeastern Montana, U.S.A. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(6):e1225748:1-10 DOI ↗

H. Montgomery and S. Clark. 2016. Paleoecology of the Gaddis Site in the Upper Cretaceous Aguja Formation, Terlingua, Texas. Palaios 31:341-357 DOI ↗

P. R. Bell, P. J. Currie, and D. A. Russell. 2015. Large caenagnathids (Dinosauria, Oviraptorosauria) from the uppermost Cretaceous of western Canada. Cretaceous Research 52:101-107 DOI ↗

G. F. Funston, W. S. Persons, IV, and G. J. Bradley, P. J. Currie. 2015. New material of the large-bodied caenagnathid Caenagnathus collinsi from the Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 54(1):179-187 DOI ↗

H.-D. Sues and A. O. Averianov. 2015. New material of Caenagnathasia martinsoni (Dinosauria: Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Bissekty Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) of Uzbekistan. Cretaceous Research 54:50-59 DOI ↗

T. Tsuihiji, M. Watabe, and R. Barsbold, K. Tsogtbaatar. 2015. A gigantic caenagnathid oviraptorosaurian (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Cretaceous Research 56(1):60-65 DOI ↗

X. Yao, X.-L. Wang, and C. Sullivan, S. Wang, T. A. Stidham, X. Xu. 2015. Caenagnathasia sp. (Theropoda: Oviraptorosauria) from the Iren Dabasu Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Erenhot, Nei Mongol, China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 53(4):291-298

M. C. Lamanna, H.-D. Sues, and E. R. Schachner, T. R. Lyson. 2014. A New large-bodied oviraptorosaurian theropod dinosaur from the latest Cretaceous of western North America. PLoS ONE 9(3):e92022:1-16 DOI ↗

N. R. Longrich, K. Barnes, and S. Clark, L. Millar. 2013. Caenagnathidae from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation of west Texas, and a revision of the Caenagnathinae. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54(1):23-49 DOI ↗

M. P. J. Oreska, M. T. Carrano, and K. M. Dzikiewicz. 2013. Vertebrate paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous), I: faunal composition, biogeographic relationships, and sampling. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33(2):264-292 DOI ↗

S. E. Jasinski, R. M. Sullivan, and S. G. Lucas. 2011. Taxonomic composition of the Alamo Wash local fauna from the Upper Cretaceous Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Fossil Record 3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 53:216-271

R. M. Sullivan, S. E. Jasinski, and M. P. A. Van Tomme. 2011. A new caenagnathid Ojoraptorsaurus boerei, n. gen., n. sp. (Dinosauria, Oviraptorosauria), from the Upper Cretaceous Ojo Alamo Formation (Naashoibito Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Fossil Record 3. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin

Y. Matsumoto, R. Hashimoto, and T. Sonoda, Y. Fujiyama, B. Mifune, Y. Kawahara, M. Saneyoshi. 2010. Report of the preparation works for Mongolian specimens in Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences: 1999–2008. Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences Research Bulletin 3:167-185

X. Xu, Q. Tan, and J. Wang, X. Zhao, L. Tan. 2007. A gigantic bird-like dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of China. Nature 447:844-847 DOI ↗

M. T. Carrano. 2005. Fossil Vertebrate Collections, University of California Museum of Paleontology

Z. Csiki and D. Grigorescu. 2005. A new theropod from Tustea: are there oviraptorosaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of Europe?. Current Research in Vertebrate Palaeontolgy. 3rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists (EAVP). Kaupia 14:78

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L. E. Zanno and S. D. Sampson. 2005. A new oviraptorosaur (Theropoda, Maniraptora) from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of Utah. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 25(4):897-904 DOI ↗

D. A. Pearson, T. Schaefer, and K. R. Johnson, D. J. Nichols, J. P. Hunter. 2002. Vertebrate biostratigraphy of the Hell Creek Formation in southwestern North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota. The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the Northern Great Plains: An Integrated Continental Record of the End of the Cretaceous, Geological Society of America Special Paper 361:145-167 DOI ↗

D. J. Varricchio. 2001. Late Cretaceous oviraptorosaur (Theropoda) dinosaurs from Montana. D. H. Tanke and K. Carpenter (eds.), Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, Indiana University Press, Bloomington

R. Barsbold, H. Osmólska, and M. Watabe, P. J. Currie, K. Tsogtbaatar. 2000. A new oviraptorosaur (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from Mongolia: the first dinosaur with a pygostyle. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 45(2):97-106

P. J. Currie, S. J. Godfrey, and L. Nessov. 1994. New caenagnathid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) specimens from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and Asia. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 30(10-11):2255-2272 DOI ↗

W. D. Maxwell. 1993. Neonate dinosaur remains and dinosaur eggshell from the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation, Montana. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 13(3, suppl.):49A

P. J. Currie. 1989. The first records of <i>Elmisaurus</i> (Saurischia, Theropoda) from North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 26(6):1319-1324 DOI ↗

A. R. Fiorillo. 1989. The vertebrate fauna from the Judith River Formation (Late Cretaceous) of Wheatland and Golden Valley counties, Montana. Mosasaur 4:127-142

P. J. Currie and D. A. Russell. 1988. Osteology and relationships of <i>Chirostenotes pergracilis</i> (Saurischia, Theropoda) from the Judith River (Oldman) Formation of Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 25:972-986 DOI ↗

H. Osmolska. 1981. Coossified tarsometatarsi in theropod dinosaurs and their bearing on the problem of bird origins. Palaeontologica Polonica 42:79-95

J. Cracraft. 1971. Caenagnathiformes: Cretaceous birds convergent in jaw mechanism to dicynodont reptiles. Journal of Paleontology 45(5):805-809

M. T. Greenwald. 1971. The Lower Vertebrates of the Hell Creek Formation, Harding County, South Dakota.

J. H. Ostrom. 1970. Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin area, Wyoming and Montana. Peabody Museum Bulletin 35:1-234

A. K. Rozhdestvensky. 1964. Novye dannye o mestonakhozhdeniyakh dinozavrov na territorii Kazakhstana i Srednei Azii [New data on occurrences of dinosaurs in Kazakhstan and Central Asia]. Tashkentskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, Nauchnye Trudy: Geologiya [Tashkent State University, Scientific Publications: Geology] 234:227-241

R. M. Sternberg. 1940. A toothless bird from the Cretaceous of Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 14(1):81-85

W. A. Parks. 1933. New species of dinosaurs and turtles from the Upper Cretaceous formations of Alberta. University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series 34:1-33

C. M. Sternberg. 1932. Two new theropod dinosaurs from the Belly River Formation of Alberta. Canadian Field-Naturalist 46(5):99-105 DOI ↗

C. W. Gilmore. 1924. A new coelurid dinosaur from the Belly River Cretaceous of Alberta. Canada Department of Mines Geological Survey Bulletin (Geological Series) 38(43):1-12 DOI ↗

Caenagnathidae

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