87. Saving one of the best troodontids for last for #TheSummerOfTheropods, is #Stenonychosaurus ("narrow claw lizard”) a troodontid from the Late Cretaceous Period of Alberta, Canada. Art by @troodonvet.

Previously, Stenonychosaurus was reassigned to the genus Troodon, which was reverted by the recognition of Stenonychosaurus as a separate genus from the possibly dubious Troodon in 2017 by @DavidEvans_ROM and colleagues, and later by Van der Reest and Currie the same year.

Stenonychosaurus was a small dinosaur, up to 0.9 meters (3.0 ft) in height, 2.4 meters (7.9 ft) in length, and 35 kilograms (77 lb) to 50 kilograms (110 lb) in mass, comparable in size to Deinonychus and Unenlagia. Image by @mpmartyniuk.

Stenonychus had very long, slender legs, suggesting that it was able to run quickly. Similar to dromaeosaurids, Stenonychosaurus also had retractable sickle-shaped claws on their second toes, which were raised off the ground when running. Art by @skeletaldrawing

The eyes were very large, suggesting a partially nocturnal lifestyle, and were slightly forward facing, giving the troodontid some degree of depth perception.

Stenonychosaurus was thought to have been a predator given the sickle claw on its foot and binocular vision. However when comparing the teeth with other theropods, Stenonychosaurus may have also been an omnivore.

Stenonychosaurus had one of the largest known brains of any dinosaur, relative to its body mass.

Stenonychosaurus lived in the Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta, Canada, which at the time was a warm coastal floodplain covered by temperate forests. It lived alongside hadrosaurids, ceratopsians, ankylosaurs, pachycephalosaurs, and tyrannosaurs. Art by Paleoguy

I should also mention one important thing about Stenonychosaurus and that would be its “possible evolutionary path”.

Paleontologist Dale Russel of the @MuseumofNature suggested that had the K-Pg event not occur, then Stenonychosaurus would have evolved into intelligent beings similar in body plan to humans, “The Dinosauroid”.

“The Dinosauroid” theory has been met with criticism given its overly anthropomorphic appearance.