Richardoestesia

Taxobox
name = "Richardoestesia"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Dromaeosauridae
genus = "Richardoestesia"
genus_authority = Currie, Rigby & Sloan, 1990
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision =
*"R. gilmorei" Currie, Rigby & Sloan, 1990 (type)

"Richardoestesia" is a medium sized (~100kg) genus of theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. It is known from a single pair of lower jaw bones and a large number of isolated teeth. The jaws are slender and rather long but the teeth are small and finely serrated. It has been suggested that "Richardoestesia" was a fish eater, like a heron. Because so little is known of the animal, its relationships are unclear. However, the jaws resemble "Archaeopteryx", Troodontidae and some Dromaeosauridae, in having a strong groove on the lateral surface. The jaws and a number of teeth come from Dinosaur Provincial Park but "Richardoestesia" teeth are also found in the Late Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and the Scollard Formation. Its teeth are extremely common in the Lance Formation. "Paronychodon" teeth may come from "Richardoestesia". The genus is named for Richard Estes, to honor his important work on the small vertebrates of the Late Cretaceous.

The scientists who described this genus actually intended to use the spelling "Ricardoestesia". However, except in one overlooked figure caption, the editors of the paper altered the spelling to include the 'h'. [http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Nov/msg00416.html] Ironically, in an attempt to correct this misspelling, George Olshevsky also used the spelling "Richardoestesia" in 1991, unaware that the original authors actually intended the name to be spelled "Ricardoestesia", and under ICZN rules, acted as "first revisor" and inadvertently made the misspelt name official. Subsequently, the original authors have adopted the spelling "Richardoestesia".

References

* Baszio, S. 1997. Investigations on Canadian dinosaurs: systematic palaeontology of isolated dinosaur teeth from the Latest Cretaceous of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Courier Forschunginstitut Senckenberg 196:33-77.
* Currie, P. J., K. J. Rigby, and R. E. Sloan. 1990. Theropod teeth from the Judith River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. Pp. 107-125. In P. J. Currie, and K. Carpenter, eds. Dinosaur Systematics: Perspectives and Approaches. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
* Sankey, J. T., D. B. Brinkman, M. Guenther, and P. J. Currie. 2002. Small theropod and bird teeth from the Late Cretaceous (Late Campanian) Judith River Group, Alberta. Journal of Paleontology 76(4):751-763.

External links

* [http://dml.cmnh.org/1997Nov/msg00416.html The "Ricardoestesia" typo" is described]
* [http://dml.cmnh.org/2002Jul/msg00530.html First message of a passionate "Ricardoestesia" versus "Richardoestesia" debate]