NAME

Meaning - Troodon means “wounding tooth”
Pronounced - TROH-o-don
Named By - Joseph Leidy
When Named - 1856
DIET

Carnivore (meat-eater)
SIZE

Length - 6.5-11.5 ft (2-3.5 m) long
Height - 3 ft (1 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 110 pounds (50 kg)
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 76-70 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Fossils have been found in Canada (Alberta) and USA (Montana and Wyoming), North America.
FOSSILS

The first Troödon fossil was discovered by Ferdinand V. Hayden in 1855. Many teeth, 20 skeletons, and elongated eggs (some located in dirt nests) with embryos have been found.
CLASSIFICATION
  • 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
  • Tetanura - advanced theropods with three fingers
  • Infraorder Coelurosauria - lightly-built fast-running predators with hollow bones and large brains
  • Family Troodontidae - the smartest dinosaurs with large eyes and grasping hands (eg. Troödon, Borogovia, Hepasteornis, Paronychodon, Saurornithoides, Sinornithoides, and Tochisaurus). They may have been omnivores.
  • Genus Troodon
  • Species T. formosus (type species named by Leidy, 1856)
INTERESTING FACTS

Troodon may have been the smartest dinosaur, having the largest brain in proportion to its body weight (as smart as a modern bird). It was a fast-moving, light-weight predator that walked on two long legs. It had serrated teeth, long, slim jaws, and a stiff tail.
LINKS

A detailed page on Troodon.
Troodon coloring/information printout