Open Paleo

Dinevenator

Jasinski & Sullivan, 2026 Disputed

From Navajo 'Diné', the name of the Navajo people, combined with Latin 'venator' meaning 'hunter'; meaning 'Diné hunter'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Dinevenator is an extinct genus of troodontid theropod dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian age) Kirtland Formation of New Mexico, United States. The type species of the genus, Dinevenator robustus, is known from a nearly complete frontal bone (a skull roof bone). Previous work had assigned it to the genera Saurornitholestes and Xenovenator.

Under dispute

Dinevenator is recovered within the tribe Troodontini of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues (2026), as the basalmost member and the sister taxon to Albertavenator plus Xenovenator. That tribe is not adopted as a node, so the genus is placed in Troodontinae alongside them. Its validity is contested. Turner and colleagues (2012) found the holotype frontal too weathered to diagnose and called the species a nomen dubium, and Evans and colleagues (2014) referred it only to an indeterminate troodontid, while Rivera-Sylva and colleagues (2026) and Jasinski and Sullivan (2026) both rediagnosed it as a valid species. Those two disagree on its generic assignment, the former tentatively referring it to Xenovenator as the sister taxon to Xenovenator espinosai, and the latter erecting Dinevenator for it later the same year. No later work has yet assessed the revalidation.

Diagnosis

  1. Dorsoventrally thick and robust frontals
  2. Frontals thicker posteriorly than anteriorly
  3. Nearly flat frontals lacking a well-developed parasagittal trough and sagittal ridge, so the dorsolateral surface for the orbital rim is robust but only slightly raised
  4. Posteromedial nasal projection between the frontals that is wider than long
  5. More laterally oriented posterior portion of the lateral endocranial wall of the frontal
  6. Lacks a transverse ventral ridge separating the cerebral and olfactory fossae

Species

Dinevenator robustus (Sullivan, 2006) Disputed

Type species

First named as Saurornitholestes robustus

From Latin 'robustus' meaning 'robust' or 'strong'.

Holotype
SMP VP-1955 , State Museum of Pennsylvania
Material
Nearly complete but weathered left frontal, lacking the lateral orbital margin and the postorbital process.
Horizon
De-na-zin Member, Kirtland Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Alamo Wash (north fork), New Mexico, United States

Synonyms

  • Saurornitholestes robustus reassigned

    Original combination by Sullivan (2006); Jasinski and Sullivan (2026) erected the new genus Dinevenator for the species.

  • Xenovenator robustus reassigned

    Combination of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues (2026), who diagnosed the species as valid and recovered it as the sister taxon to Xenovenator espinosai, assigning it to that genus only tentatively; Jasinski and Sullivan (2026) instead erected Dinevenator for it.

References

  1. Sullivan, R. M. (2006). Saurornitholestes robustus n. sp. (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous Kirtland Formation (De-na-zin Member), San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from the Western Interior 35: 253-256.

    Original description of the species as Saurornitholestes robustus, founded on the holotype frontal.

    sullivan2006b
  2. Turner, A. H.; Makovicky, P. J.; Norell, M. A. (2012). A Review of Dromaeosaurid Systematics and Paravian Phylogeny. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 371: 1-206. doi:10.1206/748.1

    Finds the holotype frontal damaged and weathered, lacking even dromaeosaurid synapomorphies, and treats Saurornitholestes robustus as a nomen dubium.

    turner2012a
  3. Evans, D. C.; Larson, D. W.; Cullen, T. M.; Sullivan, R. M. (2014). "Saurornitholestes" robustus is a troodontid (Dinosauria: Theropoda). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 51(7): 730-734. Canadian Science Publishing. doi:10.1139/cjes-2014-0073

    Reidentified the holotype frontal as troodontid rather than dromaeosaurid, and treated the species as a nomen dubium.

    evans2014a
  4. Rivera-Sylva, H. E.; Aguillón-Martínez, M. C.; Flores-Ventura, J.; Sánchez-Uribe, I. E.; Guzmán-Gutiérrez, J. R.; Longrich, N. R. (2026). A Thick-Skulled Troodontid Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mexico. Diversity 18(1). MDPI AG. doi:10.3390/d18010038

    Rediagnosed the species as valid and tentatively assigned it to Xenovenator, recovering it as the sister taxon to Xenovenator espinosai within the tribe Troodontini.

    rivera-sylva2026a
  5. Jasinski, S. E.; Sullivan, R. M. (2026). Dinevenator, a New Genus of Troodontid Dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of New Mexico. Fossil Studies 4(3). MDPI AG. doi:10.3390/fossils4030021

    Reassessed the holotype as diagnostic and erected Dinevenator for the species.

    jasinski2026a