''Leptorhynchos'' (meaning "slender beak") is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of caenagnathid

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s known from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

(

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campanian s ...

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

aged) Aguja Formation of west

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States. It lived about 80.5–72 million years ago. It is distinguished from its relatives ''

Chirostenotes ''Chirostenotes'' ( ; named from Greek 'narrow-handed') is a genus of oviraptorosaurian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous (about 76.5 million years ago) of Alberta, Canada. The type species is ''Chirostenotes pergracilis''. History of discovery ...

'' and ''

Anzu Anzu may refer to: *Anzû, a divine storm-bird in several Ancient Mesopotamian religion, Mesopotamian religions *Anzu (dinosaur), ''Anzu'' (dinosaur), a genus of theropod dinosaur containing the species ''Anzu wyliei'' As a given name is a Japan ...

'' by its smaller size, and by a more strongly upturned mandible, similar to that of oviraptorids. The specializations of the beak in ''Leptorhynchos'' and other caenagnathids suggest that they were herbivores. The species ''L. elegans'' has since been transferred to the genus ''

Citipes ''Citipes'' (meaning "fleet-footed") is an extinct genus of caenagnathid dinosaurs known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian aged) Dinosaur Park of southern Alberta, Canada. It lived about 76.9–75.8 million years ago. The specializations of th ...

'', leaving only the type species ''L. gaddisi'' in the genus. ''Leptorhynchos'' has been placed in the Elmisaurinae.

References

Caenagnathids Late Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Campanian genus first appearances Maastrichtian genus extinctions Maastrichtian life Hell Creek fauna Paleontology in Texas Paleontology in Montana Paleontology in Alberta Fossil taxa described in 2013 {{theropod-stub

See also

References