Troodon formosus
读音： TROH-oh-don for-MOH-sus
Maniraptora · Troodontidae
A small, big-brained, bird-like predator from the Late Cretaceous of North America, named in 1856 from a single tooth. Nests from Montana suggest that males brooded the eggs. Whether the name is still usable is debated.
- Bipedal
- Feathered
- Sickle claw
- Eggs known
- 时代
- 白垩纪· 坎潘阶
- 食性
- 肉食性
- 体长
- 未知
- 体重
- 未知
- 地点
- Montana, Alberta, United States, Canada
快速问答
- Troodon formosus有多大？
- 髋部高约0.8–1 m。 (Paul 2016)
- Troodon formosus生活在什么时候？
- Troodon formosus生活在晚白垩世，约7950万至7440万年前。 (Paleobiology Database: Troodon occurrences 2026; Rogers et al. 2016)
- 在哪里发现过Troodon formosus的化石？
- Troodon formosus的化石发现于Judith River Formation (Montana)、Dinosaur Park Formation (Alberta)、United States和Canada。 (Leidy 1856; Varricchio et al. 1997)
- Troodon formosus吃什么？
- Troodon formosus是肉食性或杂食性。 (Leidy 1856; Varricchio et al. 1997)
- Troodon formosus由谁命名，何时命名？
- Troodon formosus由Joseph Leidy于1856年描述。 (Leidy 1856; Paleobiology Database: Troodon occurrences 2026)
本页内容
TROH-oh-don for-MOH-sus
- 时代
- 白垩纪79.5–74.4 Ma
- 食性
- 肉食性
- 体长
- 未知
- 体重
- 未知
- 产地
- United States, Canada
- 分类
- Maniraptora · Troodontidae
- 命名
- 1856, Joseph Leidy
概览
此内容目前仅提供英文版。
Troodon formosus was named by Joseph Leidy in 1856 from one serrated tooth collected by Ferdinand Hayden in 1855 in the Judith River badlands of Montana. For more than a century it was one of the earliest-named North American dinosaurs, and many small troodontid skeletons from the Campanian of Montana and Alberta were referred to it.
Troodontids were slender, long-legged predators with large eyes, big brains for dinosaurs and an enlarged, retractable second toe claw. Clutches of paired, elongated eggs from Egg Mountain in Montana, some with an adult on top, have been attributed to Troodon (Varricchio et al. 1997).
The clutches are large relative to the adults, and the brooding adults lack the bone features of egg-laying females, which suggests that males cared for the eggs, as in many living birds (Varricchio et al. 2008). A single tooth cannot separate closely related species, so several authors treat Troodon formosus as a doubtful name and use Stenonychosaurus for the Canadian skeletons.
名称含义
"Wounding tooth", from Greek trōō ("to wound") and odous ("tooth"), for its serrated teeth; formosus, Latin for "beautiful" (Leidy 1856).
生物学与证据
科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。
蛋
Troodon laid its eggs in pairs in a partly buried clutch.
证据等级：中等证据Clutches from Montana show paired eggs, which suggests two working oviducts laying one egg each at intervals. The attribution of the eggs to Troodon itself rests on associated skeletons.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
标本 · Egg Mountain troodontid clutches
Clutches of paired, elongated eggs from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, attributed to Troodon, some associated with adults.
筑巢
Troodon fathers brooded the eggs.
证据等级：假说The clutches are very large for the adults, as in birds where males incubate, and the adults on the nests show no signs of recent egg-laying. Care by males may have evolved before birds.
支持 / 反对证据 · 2
支持证据
组织学 · Clutch volume and brooding-adult histology
Large clutch volumes scale with a bird paternal-care model, and the adults found on clutches lack the bone features of egg-laying females.
标本 · Egg Mountain troodontid clutches
Clutches of paired, elongated eggs from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, attributed to Troodon, some associated with adults.
其他
Troodon formosus, based on a single tooth, is a valid name.
证据等级：有争议A 2017 study found the type tooth undiagnostic and revived Stenonychosaurus for Canadian skeletons; later work has proposed a neotype to keep Troodon. Which name applies to which fossils is unsettled.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
标本 · Egg Mountain troodontid clutches
Clutches of paired, elongated eggs from the Two Medicine Formation of Montana, attributed to Troodon, some associated with adults.
体型
- 体长
- 未知
- 身高
- 0.9 m文献范围 0.8–1 m
- 体重
- 未知
（3 英尺）
体长未知，暂无体型对比。
时间线
时代： 坎潘阶 (83.6–72.1 Ma), 晚白垩世 (100.5–66 Ma)
Span of its formations: the Judith River Formation of the type area, about 79.5-75.2 Ma (Ar/Ar, Rogers et al. 2016, read in a secondary summary only), and the Dinosaur Park Formation, 76.47-74.44 Ma (Eberth et al. 2023). The type tooth is not tied to a dated level and referred material is debated.
产地
地层
- Judith River Formation · Montana
- Dinosaur Park Formation · Alberta
- Judith River badlands, Fergus County, Montana · Judith River Formation · Montana · 位置为近似值
这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。
生态系统
生活于： Dinosaur Park
76.5–74.4 百万年前 · 泛滥平原, 沿海平原, 河流水系
Late Campanian alluvial and coastal plains on the western shore of the Western Interior Seaway, in what is now southern Alberta.
分类
- 演化支Dinosauria
- 演化支Saurischia
- 演化支Theropoda
- 演化支Coelurosauria
- 演化支Maniraptora
- 科Troodontidae
- 属Troodon
- 种Troodon formosus
分类地位： 有效
化石记录
| 编号 | 类型 | 收藏机构 | 发现年份 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANSP 9259 | 正模标本 | Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University (ANSP) | 1855 |
已发现的部分
正模标本: ANSP 9259
- 保存
- 部分保存
- 复原
- 未知 / 未记录
按部位查看（表格）
| 部位 | 状态 |
|---|---|
| Skull | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Mandible | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Teeth | 部分保存 · One tooth. |
| Cervical vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Dorsal vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Sacrum | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Caudal vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Ribs | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Gastralia | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Scapula / shoulder girdle | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Humerus | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Forearm (radius / ulna) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Hand (manus) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Pelvis | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Femur | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Tibia / fibula | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Foot (pes) | 未知 / 未记录 |
发现
- 命名年份
- 1856
- 命名者
- Joseph Leidy
- 模式标本
- ANSP 9259
发现时间线
1856 · 正式命名
Leidy names Troodon from a tooth
Leidy names Troödon formosus from a tooth collected by Hayden in 1855.
人物：Joseph Leidy, Ferdinand V. Hayden
1997 · 重要研究
Troodon nests described from Egg Mountain
Varricchio and colleagues describe clutches and nests from Montana.
人物：David J. Varricchio
2008 · 重要研究
Paternal care proposed for Troodon
Clutch size and bone histology suggest males brooded the eggs.
人物：David J. Varricchio
参考文献
- (2026). Paleobiology Database: Troodon occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Troodon&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates（在新标签页中打开）
- Eberth, D. A., Evans, D. C., Ramezani, J., Kamo, S. L., Brown, C. M., Currie, P. J. & Braman, D. R. (2023). Calibrating geologic strata, dinosaurs, and other fossils at Dinosaur Provincial Park (Alberta, Canada) using a new CA-ID-TIMS U-Pb geochronology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. doi:10.1139/cjes-2023-0037（在新标签页中打开）
- Leidy, J. (1856). Notices of remains of extinct reptiles and fishes, discovered by Dr. F. V. Hayden in the bad lands of the Judith River, Nebraska Territory. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.
- Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
- Rogers, R. R. et al. (2016). Age, correlation, and lithostratigraphic revision of the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Judith River Formation in its type area (north-central Montana), with a comparison of low- and high-accommodation alluvial records. The Journal of Geology 124(1). doi:10.1086/684289（在新标签页中打开）
- Varricchio, D. J., Jackson, F., Borkowski, J. J. & Horner, J. R. (1997). Nest and egg clutches of the dinosaur Troodon formosus and the evolution of avian reproductive traits. Nature 385: 247-250. doi:10.1038/385247a0（在新标签页中打开）
- Varricchio, D. J., Moore, J. R., Erickson, G. M., Norell, M. A., Jackson, F. D. & Borkowski, J. J. (2008). Avian paternal care had dinosaur origin. Science 322: 1826-1828. doi:10.1126/science.1163245（在新标签页中打开）