Saurornithoides was a 6 foot long raptor dinosaur which lived in Mongolia during the late Cretaceous Period 75 million years ago. Fossils of it have been found in the Djadochta Formation within Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, a place rich in Cretaceous-aged fossils. The most famous locality within this formation is the evocatively-named Flaming Cliffs, which, as you can guess, is distinctive for its bright orange sandstone. Famous dinosaurs from this formation include Protoceratops, Oviraptor, and Velociraptor, but there were many others, including Saurornithoides whose name means “the bird-like lizard”.
Like Velociraptor, Saurornithoides was one of the so-called “raptor” dinosaurs; the two creatures were also about the same size. However, the two of them weren’t closely related. Saurornithoides belonged to a sub-group of raptors called the troodontids, named after Troodon of North America. The troodontids tended to have a slimmer build, longer skulls, smaller teeth, and large eyes in proportion to overall head size, leading some to suspect that they were nocturnal.
Saurornithoides mongoliensis. © Jason R. Abdale (October 11, 2026).
I truly enjoy writing my articles and drawing my art, but it’s increasingly clear that I can’t keep this up without your gracious financial assistance. Kindly check out my pages on Redbubble and Fine Art America if you want to purchase merch of my artwork. Consider buying my ancient Roman history books Four Days in September: The Battle of Teutoburg and The Great Illyrian Revolt if you or someone that you know loves that topic, or my ancient Egyptian novel Servant of a Living God if you enjoy action and adventure. Please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon page so that I can continue to purchase the art supplies and research materials that I need. Professional art supplies are pricey, many research articles are “pay to read”, and some academic journals are rather expensive. My Patreon membership is just $1 per month – that’s it. If everybody who likes this drawing donates just one dollar per month, it would go a long way to keeping my blog “Dinosaurs and Barbarians” running and preventing my career in paleo-art from going extinct.
Keep your pencils sharp, people.
Categories: Paleontology, Uncategorized
Leave a Reply