32a. Osborn's Ornitholestes, 1903

Photo

This new dinosaur was discovered by the American Museum Expedition of 1900, at Bone Cabin Quarry in Wyoming.  Because it seemed to be very light and agile, with great grasping power, Osborn guessed that it might have pursued Jurassic birds, and so he named it Ornitholestes, the “bird robber.”  The specific name honored the head preparator at the Museum, Adam Hermann.

Source

Osborn, Henry Fairfield. "Ornitholestes hermanii, a new compsognathoid dinosaur from the upper Jurassic," in: Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, vol. 19 (1903), pp. 459-464.  This work is part of our History of Science Collection, but it was NOT included in the original exhibition.


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