| Richardoestesia Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| |
| Paleoart of Richardoestesia by Pavel Galvan | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | Coelurosauria |
| Genus: | †Richardoestesia Currie, Rigby & Sloan, 1990 |
| Type species | |
| †Richardoestesia gilmorei Currie, Rigby & Sloan, 1990 | |
| Other species | |
|
†R. isosceles Sankey, 2001 †R. asiatica? Nesov, 1995 | |
Richardoestesia is an extinct morphogenus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of North America. The genus currently contains two species, the type species Richardoestesia gilmorei, and Richardoestesia isosceles, and has been used as a morphotaxon for other theropod teeth which vary widely in time and space from the type species.
Discovery[]
The holotype specimen of Richardoestesia gilmorei (NMC 343) is known only from a pair of lower jaws, which was found in the upper Judith River Group and dates to 75 million years ago, during the Campanian age. However, teeth from this dinosaur are found in nearly every Rocky Mountain state and province.
In 2001, another species of Richardoestesia, R. isosceles, was named by Julia Sankey based on a tooth found from the Texan Aguja Formation. The teeth are crocodyliform in shape, and possibly belong to a sebecosuchian.
Gallery[]
