Ornitholestes, the "bird-robber,"
is a small theropod commonly shown
with a small crest on its nose.
However, what appeared to be a flat
projection from the skull of this 2-
meter-long theropod was actually the
result of crushing. Don't be crest-
fallen, because there is still more
to this dinosaur than meets the eye!
Specifically, the eye socket: the
eye socket on its skull is so large
that paleontologists think Ornitho-
lestes may have been nocturnal!
Don't sleep on this carnivore; its
arms had a wide range of motion that
allowed it to snatch its prey with
both hands. Ornitholestes was
originally thought to have hunted
Jurassic birds (hence the meaning of
its name), but it's more likely that
it ate a range of small critters.

Ornitholestes was found in the
Morrison Formation, a famous Jurass-
ic rock formation from the western
United States. The Morrison was a
floodplain where water and sediment
flushed in from the mountains to the
west. This made it a very fertile
landscape where many popular dino-
saurs roamed. Sauropods like Diplo-
docus and Brachiosaurus stomped past
Ornithischian dinosaurs like Stego-
saurus and Dryosaurus. Carnivores
like Allosaurus and Ceratosaurus
terrorized the land during the day,
while Ornitholestes prowled around
at night.